On Saturday, February 14, 2026, a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule docked at the International Space Station at 3:15 PM Eastern Time, approximately 34 hours after launching from Cape Canaveral. The crew consists of NASA astronauts Jessica Meir (commander) and Jack Hathaway, European Space Agency astronaut Sophie Adenot (France), and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev. They will spend eight to nine months aboard the station.
This mission restores the ISS to its normal complement of seven crew members. In January 2026, NASA conducted its first medical evacuation from orbit in 65 years of human spaceflight. On January 7, one of four astronauts who had launched the previous summer experienced what NASA described as a serious health issue. NASA brought all four back to Earth on January 15, more than a month ahead of schedule. The identity of the affected astronaut and the nature of the medical condition have not been disclosed, citing medical privacy. The evacuated crew spent their first night back at a hospital before returning to Houston.
The early departure left only three crew members aboard the ISS: one American (Chris Williams) and two Russians (Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Sergey Mikaev). This reduced crew prompted NASA to pause spacewalks and reduce research activities. NASA attempted to advance Crew-12's launch by about four days to minimize the time with reduced crew, but conflicts with Artemis II moon mission preparations and weather conditions prevented the earlier launch. With the new crew's arrival, normal research operations and spacewalks can resume.