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Crew-12 Targets Friday Launch as Expedition 74 Keeps Up Tech, Psych Research

The four crew members representing NASA's SpaceX Crew-12 mission to the International Space Station pose for a portrait at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. From left are, Roscosmos cosmonaut and Mission Specialist Andrey Fedyaev, NASA astronauts Jack Hathaway and Jessica Meir, Crew-12 Pilot and Commander respectively, and ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut and Mission Specialist Sophie Adenot.
The four crew members representing NASA’s SpaceX Crew-12 mission to the International Space Station are (from left) Roscosmos cosmonaut and Mission Specialist Andrey Fedyaev, NASA astronauts Jack Hathaway and Jessica Meir, Crew-12 Pilot and Commander respectively, and ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut and Mission Specialist Sophie Adenot.
NASA/James Blair

NASA and SpaceX managers continue targeting no earlier than 5:15 a.m. EST on Friday, Feb. 13, for the launch of Crew-12 aboard a SpaceX Dragon to the International Space Station. NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Sophie Adenot, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev remain in Florida ahead of a liftoff from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

Expedition 74 Flight Engineer Chris Williams of NASA has been preparing the orbital outpost for the arrival of Crew-12 expected at 3:15 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 14. Williams spent several days staging a variety of lab hardware, such as tablet computers, the soon to arrive crew will use during their mission, as well as required emergency gear to be transferred inside Dragon shortly after the quartet’s arrival. Williams will be on duty Saturday monitoring Dragon’s automated approach and rendezvous from the cupola.

NASA’s Crew-12 launch coverage begins at 3:15 a.m. on Friday with docking coverage starting at 1:15 p.m. on Saturday on NASA+, Amazon Prime, and the agency’s YouTube channel. Learn how to watch NASA content through a variety of online platforms, including social media.

Meanwhile on Wednesday, the space station trio kept up its ongoing microgravity research duties exploring spacecraft fuel physics and crew psychology. The NASA astronaut and two Roscosmos cosmonauts also focused on cargo transfers and standard lab maintenance.

Williams began Wednesday photographing the configuration of scientific hardware attached to the outside of the Cygnus XL cargo spacecraft that will demonstrate a new electronic propulsion technology. Next, he continued stowing experiments and lab gear inside a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft for its upcoming return to Earth and retrieval.

During the afternoon, the first-time space flyer inspected lithium-ion batteries for continued use or disposal. Afterward, he wrapped up his shift injecting gas into research hardware installed inside the Destiny laboratory module’s Microgravity Science Glovebox. The physics experiment is testing ways to control a spacecraft’s fuel tank pressure due to cryogenic fuel propellants evaporating from the surrounding heat.

Station Commander Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Flight Engineer Sergei Mikaev joined each other at the beginning of their shift and took a test with increasing complexity to help researchers understand and improve crew communications, operations, and training. Kud-Sverchkov then explored how living in space affects stress, cognitive performance, and immune function. He ended his shift inventorying orbital plumbing components and synchronizing station cameras to Greenwich Mean Time. Mikaev tested and configured the operation of the physics research hardware and power supply systems then photographed and inspected the Zvezda service module’s windows.

Learn more about station activities by following the space station blog, @space_station on X, as well as the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts.

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