By BlueShift | 2026-02-02

The four crew members of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-12 mission began their routine two-week quarantine at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston on January 28, ahead of their upcoming launch to the International Space Station (ISS).

Crew-12 is expected to launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida as early as February 11, days ahead of the original February 15 launch date.

The crew will launch aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft on the company’s Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40.

The next available launch opportunities after the February 11 window are February 12 and 13, according to NASA, with the agency to decide on the best opportunity for the mission closer to flight.

NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Sophie Adenot and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev are conducting prelaunch operations while they are in quarantine.

Crew quarantine began during NASA's Apollo program to reduce preflight illnesses and prevent certain types of illness during spaceflight, and has been standard practice since the Apollo 14 mission of 1971.

In the early days of spaceflight, astronauts underwent a post-flight quarantine as well, as a precautionary measure against potential extraterrestrial, lunar pathogens. But that is no longer deemed necessary.

Astronauts must still undergo a rigorous program of post-flight health checks, however, while in flight, many participate in studies designed to learn more about human health in space.

During pre-flight quarantine, the crew's human contact is limited to family members some mission personnel, who undergo medical screening and must be cleared before interacting with the crew.

The astronauts completed the crew equipment interface test on January 12, which saw them don their spacesuits, enter and familiarize themselves with the Dragon spacecraft, conduct suit leak checks, and confirm seat fitting.

They also completed communications checkouts, and listened to the Dragon’s fans and pumps to prepare for sounds they will hear during the flight.

The Dragon spacecraft is the first private spacecraft to take humans to the ISS. It is capable of carrying up to seven passengers to and from Earth orbit, and beyond, according to SpaceX.

Two major missions

This will be the second flight to the ISS for Crew-12 commander Meir, and will be mission specialist Fedyaev's second long-duration stay aboard the orbiting laboratory. Fedyaev spent 186 days in orbit during the Crew-6 mission.

It will be the first spaceflight for Crew-12 pilot Hathaway and for French astronaut Adenot, a mission specialist.

The expedited launch comes after members of the Crew-11 mission returned early from the space station due to a medical issue impacting one of the astronauts, the first ever such evacuation.

Choosing a new launch date was complicated by NASA's plans to launch its Artemis II mission, which is set to be the first crewed flight around the moon in more than 50 years, AFP reported.

The first window for that launch also opens in February, and the Artemis II Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft are in position to lift off.

"NASA continues working toward potential launch windows for two important crewed missions this February: Artemis II and Crew-12," the agency said.

"We will make any decisions on the best launch opportunity for each mission closer to flight."