SpaceX's Crew-12 Mission Successfully Docks with International Space Station

SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft, carrying four astronauts for NASA's Crew-12 mission, autonomously docked with the International Space Station (ISS) on Saturday. The spacecraft lifted off at 5:15 a.m. Eastern Time on Friday from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. It docked with the space-facing port of the ISS's Harmony module at approximately 3:15 p.m. Eastern Time on Saturday.

The Crew-12 team comprises NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, European Space Agency astronaut Sophie Adenot, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev. During their approximately eight-month mission, the crew will conduct scientific research aimed at preparing for human exploration beyond low Earth orbit and benefiting life on Earth. Their studies will include examining pneumonia-causing bacteria to improve cardiovascular treatments, testing on-demand intravenous fluid generation technologies for future space missions, and investigating how physical characteristics affect blood flow during spaceflight. Additional experiments will focus on automated plant health monitoring and research into interactions between plants and nitrogen-fixing microbes to enhance food production in space.