NASA's Crew-12 Mission Set to Launch to ISS After Medical Evacuation

NASA is preparing to launch four astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) on Friday, February 13, at 5:15 a.m. EST (10:15 GMT) from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The Crew-12 mission, aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, was delayed by two days due to adverse weather conditions along the flight path.

The Crew-12 team comprises NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, European Space Agency astronaut Sophie Adenot, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev. They have been in quarantine at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida in preparation for the mission.

This mission follows the early return of Crew-11 in January, marking the first medical evacuation in the ISS's history. The station has since been operating with a reduced crew of three. NASA has not disclosed details about the health issue that prompted the early return.

Once aboard the ISS, the Crew-12 astronauts will conduct various experiments, including research into the effects of microgravity on the human body. Adenot will test a system that uses artificial intelligence and augmented reality to enable astronauts to perform medical ultrasounds independently.

The ISS, a scientific laboratory orbiting approximately 250 miles (400 kilometers) above Earth, has been continuously inhabited for over 25 years. It is scheduled to be decommissioned and deorbited into the Pacific Ocean in 2030.