French Astronaut Returns to Space Station After 25 Years | ISS Mission Update

After approximately 34 hours of travel, the spacecraft launched Friday by a SpaceX rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida, docked with the International Space Station (ISS) at 8:15 p.m. GMT. The arrival marks the successful completion of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-12 mission, delivering a four-member crew to the orbiting laboratory.

“I am proud,” French astronaut Sophie Adenot declared Saturday, after joining the ISS for an approximately eight-month mission. Her arrival signifies the return of a French national to space after a 25-year absence, a milestone for the European Space Agency (ESA) and the French Air and Space Force.

Adenot, a colonel in the French Air and Space Force and France’s first female helicopter test pilot, is one of four crew members comprising Crew-12. She was joined by NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev. Meir will serve as commander of the mission, with Hathaway as pilot, and Adenot and Fedyaev as mission specialists.

The crew launched aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft named Freedom, which previously supported NASA’s SpaceX Crew-4 and Crew-9 missions, as well as private astronaut missions Axiom Mission 2, and 3. The launch took place from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

During their eight-month stay aboard the ISS, Crew-12 will join Expedition 74 crew members already in orbit. The team will conduct a variety of science experiments, focusing on research and technology demonstrations intended to advance preparations for future missions to the Moon and Mars, and to benefit life on Earth. Specific research areas include studies of pneumonia-causing bacteria, on-demand intravenous fluid generation for space missions, automated plant health monitoring, and investigations into plant and nitrogen-fixing microbe interactions to improve food production in space.

Adenot is scheduled to participate in more than 200 experiments in microgravity during her time on the ISS. She was selected to join the European Astronaut Corps as part of the 2022 group.