CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) – The International Space Station (ISS) regained its full six-person crew capacity Saturday with the arrival of four new astronauts, following a medical emergency last month that forced the premature return of another team. SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft, carrying the crew, docked with the ISS at 5 p.m. EST, according to NASA.
The newly arrived astronauts – NASA’s Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, European Space Agency astronaut Sophie Adenot, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev – launched from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Friday, February 13, 2026, at 5:15 a.m. EST, aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The launch marked the 12th crew rotation mission of the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket to the ISS as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, NASA reported.
The arrival of Crew-12 restores the ISS to its normal operating strength after an unexpected medical issue prompted NASA to bring four astronauts home early in January. NASA has not disclosed the identity of the astronaut who became ill or the nature of the medical problem, citing medical privacy. The affected crew members returned to Earth on January 7, more than a month ahead of schedule.
Prior to the arrival of Crew-12, the ISS was operating with a reduced crew of three – one American and two Russians – leading NASA to temporarily pause spacewalks and curtail some research activities. “With Crew-12 safely on orbit, America and our international partners once again demonstrated the professionalism, preparation, and teamwork required for human spaceflight,” said NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman in a statement released Friday.
Adenot greeted the station with a cheerful “Bonjour!” upon docking, according to NASA. Following the opening of the hatches, the seven astronauts aboard the ISS exchanged greetings and high-fives. “Let’s gain rolling,” Meir said, signaling the start of the new crew’s eight-to-nine-month science expedition.
Meir and Fedyaev are both veteran space travelers. Meir participated in the first all-female spacewalk during her previous ISS visit in 2019. Fedyaev is a former military pilot. Adenot, a military helicopter pilot, is the second French woman to travel to space, and Hathaway is a captain in the U.S. Navy.
The Dragon spacecraft is scheduled to autonomously dock to the space-facing port of the station’s Harmony module at approximately 3:15 p.m. Saturday, February 14, 2026, according to NASA.
NASA has stated it did not alter its preflight medical checks for the Crew-12 astronauts in light of the previous medical emergency.
