Only one NASA astronaut is in space right now. Help is on the way.
A medical issue at the International Space Station in January required a swift, premature return of four astronauts, leaving just one American in space for the past month.
That will change when the Crew-12 astronauts launch as early as Friday morning from Cape Canaveral, Florida. The crew — NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Sophie Adenot — along with European Space Agency astronaut Jack Hathaway and cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev, will join Chris Williams, who arrived at the station on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft in November 2025.
Members of Crew-11 — Zena Cardman, Mike Fincke, Japan’s Kimiya Yui, and Russia’s Oleg Platonov — splashed down off the coast of San Diego, California, on Jan. 15. NASA did not disclose which of the astronauts had a medical issue or what the problem was, citing medical privacy concerns. All four seemed well as they participated in a news conference six days after their landing.
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Though Williams was never entirely alone — cosmonauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Sergei Mikaev remained with him — the unprecedented medical evacuation highlights the importance of the staggered "seat swap" with Roscosmos, the Russian Space Agency. The arrangement guarantees at least one American and one Russian are always on board. The operational redundancy ensures personnel from both countries are available to maintain their respective modules orbiting 250 miles above Earth.
How to watch Crew-12 launch
Pending weather conditions, NASA plans to see Crew-12 blast off as early as 5:15 a.m. ET on Friday, Feb. 13. The crew will ride atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in a Dragon spacecraft.
To watch, NASA will provide live launch coverage starting at 3:15 a.m. ET on its YouTube channel, which you can stream from the video below.
NASA also will broadcast the event on NASA+, its own free on-demand streaming service. Check NASA's Facebook page and X channel for coverage as well.
If the rocket lifts off as planned on Friday, Crew-12 will get to the space station at about 3:15 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 14. Upon arrival, the crewmates will begin an eight-month stint aboard the orbiting laboratory.
Elisha Sauers writes about space for Mashable, taking deep dives into NASA's moon and Mars missions, chatting up astronauts and history-making discoverers, and jetting above the clouds. Through 17 years of reporting, she's covered a variety of topics, including health, business, and government, with a penchant for public records requests. She previously worked for The Virginian-Pilot in Norfolk, Virginia, and The Capital in Annapolis, Maryland. Her work has earned numerous state awards, including the Virginia Press Association's top honor, Best in Show, and national recognition for narrative storytelling. For each year she has covered space, Sauers has won National Headliner Awards, including first place for her Sex in Space series. Send space tips and story ideas to [email protected] or text 443-684-2489. Follow her on X at @elishasauers.
