With Artemis II’s moonshot pushed back to March, a launch window is open to send an all-star crew to the International Space Station in low Earth orbit.
NASA’s SpaceX Crew-12 could launch as early as 6:01 a.m. ET on Feb. 11 from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Station—a spot just three launch pads and a handful of miles south of the Artemis II moon rocket. This was the earliest launch attempt possible, but it would not have been attainable if NASA attempted to fly to the moon this month.
NASA astronauts Jessica Meir (commander) and Jack Hathaway (pilot), European Space Agency astronaut Sophie Adenot (mission specialist), and Roscosmos Cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev (mission specialist) flew to Kennedy Space Center on Feb. 6. They spent time on the nearby Florida beach with their families and then entered quarantine ahead of their launch. They could remain onboard the orbital outpost for up to eight months.
While their mission may not appear unique at first glance—this is the 13th crewed SpaceX mission to the International Space Station, and they will be joining the 74th and 75th liveaboard missions called “Expeditions”—the crew members themselves carry outstanding resumes demonstrating that the best of the best are still spacebound.
The SpaceX Falcon 9 and Crew Dragon will take Meir on her second trip to the space station. She previously served as a member of the Expedition 61 and 62 liveaboard missions. During her 205 days in space from Sept. 25, 2019, through April 17, 2020, she participated in the first three all-woman spacewalks with Artemis II astronaut Christina Koch, and she helped conduct hundreds of science experiments, including one that examined how human heart tissue functioned in space.
After her first mission, she was named one of Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People of 2020 and was added to Maine’s Women’s Hall of Fame in 2022. She served as assistant to the chief astronaut for NASA’s Commercial Crew Program (SpaceX) and assistant to the chief astronaut for NASA’s program facilitating the development of the next crewed lunar lander.
She also became a mother since her last flight and will be bringing one of her daughter’s stuffed animals into space as a way to help her share in the adventure.
“It does make it a lot [more] difficult in preparing to leave and thinking about being away from her for that long, especially when she’s so young; it’s really a large chunk of her life,” Meir told The Epoch Times. “But I hope that, you know, one day, she will really realize that this absence was a meaningful one, because it was an adventure that she got to share into and that she'll have memories about, and hopefully it will inspire her and other people around the world.”
This mission will also be Fedyaev’s second trip to the space station and his second SpaceX flight. His first was in 2023 as a mission specialist for NASA’s SpaceX Crew-6 mission, logging 186 days in orbit as part of Expedition 69. He was awarded the title “Hero of the Russian Federation” as well as the Yuri Gagarin Medal for his achievements in space.
Adenot, meanwhile, will be making her first trip to space. She was selected to become a European Space Agency astronaut in 2022. It was the first time NASA’s European counterpart recruited new astronauts since 2008, and she was one of only five chosen out of more than 22,500 applications submitted from across the continent.
A helicopter test pilot before her selection, she will be the first French woman to go to space in 25 years, following Claudie Haigneré, who took part in Soyuz missions to the Russian Mir Space Station in 1996 and the International Space Station in 2001. Adenot told members of the media that she will be carrying Haigneré’s mission patch with her into space, and she hoped to inspire women and men the same way Haigneré inspired her.
Hathaway is also making his first trip to space. The Naval Academy graduate joined NASA as a part of the Astronaut class of 2021 after gaining some serious combat experience as a fighter pilot. He accumulated more than 2,500 flight hours with 30 different aircraft, part of which was earned while conducting more than 500 landings on aircraft carriers and conducting 39 combat missions.
His service included deployment to the USS Minitz as part of Strike Fighter Squadron 14 in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, and the USS Truman flying with Strike Fighter Squadron 136 in support of Operation Inherent Resolve, then commanding Strike Fighter Squadron Eight One. He was also a test pilot and was assigned to the Joint Chiefs at the Pentagon.
Hathaway credits his experience in the Navy for fostering the mentality to be the very best that is expected of astronauts.
“When I grew up as a naval aviator, everyone around me challenged me to be the best version of myself and be as capable and work as hard as I possibly could to meet the high standard that is present in that community, and I try to bring that here to my experience at NASA,” he told reporters on Feb. 8.
