Particle.news

SpaceX Crew-12 Docks With ISS, Restores Full Seven-Person Crew

The accelerated rotation follows last month’s first ISS-era medical evacuation, setting up a months-long science campaign led in part by ESA’s εpsilon mission.

Overview

  • SpaceX’s Dragon Freedom docked with the Harmony module at 3:15 p.m. ET on Feb. 14, carrying Jessica Meir, Jack Hathaway, Sophie Adenot and Andrei Fedyaev.
  • The crew launched Feb. 13 at 5:15 a.m. ET from Cape Canaveral on a Falcon 9 and arrived after roughly 34 hours in orbit.
  • The arrival ends a month of reduced staffing that paused spacewalks and slowed research, allowing the U.S. segment to resume normal operations.
  • The mission is planned to last eight to nine months, with ESA saying Adenot will conduct up to 36 European experiments as part of the εpsilon mission.
  • NASA says the prior crew returned early due to a crewmember’s serious health issue in the first such evacuation in decades, with details withheld for medical privacy.