SpaceX Crew-12 Set to Dock with International Space Station on Valentine's Day
SpaceX's Crew-12 mission is scheduled to dock with the International Space Station today, restoring the station's full crew complement after a recent medical evacuation.
SpaceX's Crew-12 mission is scheduled to dock with the International Space Station (ISS) today, February 14, at approximately 3:15 p.m. EST (2015 GMT), concluding a 36-hour journey. The docking will be broadcast live by NASA, starting at 1:15 p.m. EST (1815 GMT).
Following docking, the crew will change out of their spacesuits and prepare cargo for offload before opening the hatch between Dragon and the space station’s Harmony module around 5 p.m. EST. NASA will also provide coverage of the welcome ceremony aboard the space station shortly after hatch opening.
The Crew-12 mission launched on February 13 at 5:15 a.m. EST from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Aboard the Crew Dragon capsule "Freedom" are NASA astronauts Jessica Meir (commander) and Jack Hathaway (pilot), European Space Agency astronaut Sophie Adenot, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev. This marks the first spaceflight for Hathaway and Adenot, and the second for Meir and Fedyaev.
The Crew-12 astronauts are expected to live and work aboard the ISS through October, extending their mission to approximately nine months, longer than the usual six-month crew rotation. Their arrival will restore the ISS crew size to its standard seven-person complement, following a reduction to three crew members due to the early return of Crew-11 last month. That return was prompted by the first-ever medical evacuation in ISS history.