A fresh crew of four astronauts arrived at the International Space Station on Saturday, restoring the orbiting laboratory to full operational strength after the first medical evacuation in 65 years of human spaceflight. The SpaceX Dragon capsule, carrying personnel from the United States, France, and Russia, docked with the station at 12:04 a.m. ET following a launch from Cape Canaveral. The mission was accelerated at NASA’s request to fill critical vacancies left by a crew that returned to Earth prematurely in January due to a serious health issue involving an unidentified astronaut.
The arrival of NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, French astronaut Sophie Adenot, and Russian cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev brings the station’s population back to seven residents. The staffing shortage over the past month had forced the agency to pause all non-essential research and cancel scheduled spacewalks. With a full complement of engineers and scientists now on board, the station is expected to resume its full slate of experiments and maintenance tasks during a mission slated to last eight to nine months.
The newly arrived crew includes Jessica Meir, a marine biologist making her second trip to the station, and Andrey Fedyaev, a former military pilot who has also lived aboard the outpost previously. They are joined by first-time fliers Jack Hathaway, a captain in the U.S. Navy, and Sophie Adenot, a military helicopter pilot who becomes only the second French woman to fly in space. Upon entering the station, the crew was greeted by the three remaining members—one American and two Russians—who had maintained the facility since the emergency departure of the previous team.
\”It turns out Friday the 13th is a very lucky day. That was quite a ride,\” stated mission commander Jessica Meir shortly after the spacecraft reached orbit.
The crew\’s upcoming workload includes testing a new filter designed to convert drinking water into emergency IV fluid and demonstrating lunar-landing simulations. These tests are viewed as critical preparation for the Artemis II mission, which is scheduled to carry four astronauts around the moon as early as March. Despite the recent medical emergency, NASA officials confirmed that no additional diagnostic equipment was added to this flight, as the agency remains satisfied with existing medical protocols and the performance of an on-board ultrasound machine used during the January crisis.
