Crew-12 set to depart the ISS after eighth months in orbit

Date:
Tue, 06 Oct 2026 23:43:49 +0000

Description:
After eight months aboard the International Space Station, NASA and SpaceXs Crew-12 mission is scheduled The post Crew-12 set to depart the ISS after eighth months in orbit appeared first on NASASpaceFlight.com .

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After eight months aboard the International Space Station, NASA and SpaceXs Crew-12 mission is scheduled to undock from the Stations Harmony port on Oct. 7 to return to Earth. During their stay, the four-person crew conducted hundreds of science experiments and station maintenance, including four spacewalks between NASA astronaut Jessica Meir and European Space Agency astronaut Sophie Adenot.



Undocking and landing

Crew-12 is scheduled to undock from the International Space Stations (ISS) Harmony zenith port on Wednesday, Oct. 7, at 12:05 UTC (08:05 EDT). After undocking from the Station, NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Sophie Adenot, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev will spend approximately 27.5 hours aboard Crew Dragon Freedom before splashing down in the Pacific Ocean on Thursday, Oct. 8, at 06:34 UTC (11:34 PM PDT on Oct. 7).

Crew-12s crew spent their last days on the Station preparing for their
return, packing essential items, testing their SpaceX pressure suits, and preparing the Station for the arrival of their follow-up mission, Crew-13. Hours before the scheduled undocking, the crew will enter Crew Dragon Freedom and close all hatches between it and the ISS. Expedition 75 crew members onboard the Station will then work to ensure Crew-12 can safely undock from the ISS, checking pressure values and hatch seals. Finally, once all is good to go, Crew Dragon Freedom and its crew of four will undock from the Station. The crew of Crew-12 don their SpaceX pressure suits in preparation for undocking. From left to right: Fedyaev, Hathaway, Meir, and Adenot. (Credit: NASA)

Immediately after undocking, Freedom will perform a set of departure burns to move away from the ISS before conducting orbit-lowering maneuvers. After Dragon has performed its de-orbit burn and jettisoned its trunk, it will re-enter Earths atmosphere and splash down off the coast of California, where SpaceXs recovery vessel Shannon will recover the vehicle and crew.

Crew-12 launched to the ISS on Feb. 13 from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Falcon 9 lofted the
Crew Dragon Freedom to the ISS, where the vehicle docked on Feb. 14 at 20:15 UTC. SpaceX recovered the first stage of its Falcon 9 vehicle, B1101, utilizing return-to-launch-site capabilities with the booster landing at Landing Zone 40 (LZ-40).

Crew-12s return was greenlit by the arrival of Crew-13 on Oct. 1 at 23:05
UTC. Crew-13, which also launched from SLC-40, lifted off on Oct. 1 at 11:10 AM EDT. Around eight hours after launch, Crew-13 docked to the Harmony
forward port, marking the fastest rendezvous with the Station by a Crew
Dragon spacecraft.

Crew-12 marks Crew Dragon Freedoms fifth mission overall, following Crew-4, Crew-9, Axiom-2, and Axiom-3. Freedom was the fourth Dragon spacecraft to be manufactured and operated by SpaceX. When Freedom splashes down with Crew-12, it will have spent a total of 609 days and 11 hours in space. Crew-12
launches to the ISS. (Credit: Max Evans for NSF)

Crew-12s busy mission

During the crews stay aboard the ISS, they worked as part of ISS Expeditions 74 and 75. ISS Expeditions refer to groups of astronauts and cosmonauts who complete long-duration missions to the station, including space research and maintenance. See Also Crew-12 Updates ISS Forum Section NSF Store Click here to Join L2

During the Crew 12s eight-month stay, Meir and Adenot completed four extravehicular activities (EVAs), or spacewalks, to conduct vital station maintenance outside the orbiting laboratory. The crews first EVA was between Meir and NASA astronaut Christopher Williams on March 18, during which the
duo prepared the 2A power channel for the installation of the ISS Rollout Solar Array (iROSA) to provide additional power.

Meir conducted another three EVAs, including one with ESAs Adenot, where the pair replaced a retroreflector on the forward docking port of the Harmony module to improve navigation data for visiting spacecraft. During the
six-hour and 49-minute spacewalk, Adenot became the first French woman to conduct a spacewalk, and the second European female astronaut to do so.

Some of the research completed by the crew during their stay included crystal growth experiments. These experiments utilize microgravity to reveal details about crystal structures, with cancer-targeting treatments crystallized to better understand their properties and advance cancer therapy on Earth. While aboard the @Space_Station , Crew-12 contributed to science research including studying cancer-targeting treatments, bone loss and regeneration, and antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

Learn more about their work in microgravity: https://t.co/S2ZZUUutuC pic.twitter.com/hsppvuuNyo

NASA (@NASA) October 5, 2026



Another experiment took place in the Cold Atomic Lab, where ultracold atoms are observed for long periods. The microgravity and super-cold conditions
lead to the creation of Bose-Einstein Condensates (BECs) that are significantly colder than those formed in Earth-based laboratories. A BEC can make the quantum properties of atoms macroscopic, making them easier for scientists to understand.

With Crew-12s departure, Expedition 75 will continue to operate on the International Space Station, with the recently arrived Crew-13 beginning its six-month mission in orbit. This event signifies yet another completed
mission for SpaceX under NASAs Commercial Crew Program. With Crew-12 on the way home and Crew-13 at the Station, NASA and SpaceX are preparing for their next operational flight to the orbiting outpost, Crew-14, which is expected
to launch no earlier than March 2027.

(Lead Image: Crew Dragon Freedom docked to the ISS. Credit: NASA)



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Link to news story:
https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2026/10/crew-12-return/

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