Crew 12 mission astronauts, from left, pilot Jack Hathaway, Russian cosmonaut Andrei Fedyaev, commander Jessica Meir and ESA astronaut Sophia Adenot, of France, leave the Operations and Checkout building before heading to pad 40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Florida, Friday, Feb 13, 2026, on a mission to the International Space Station. (Photo: AP/John Raoux)

Four new astronauts arrive at the International Space Station to replace NASA's evacuated crew

The new astronauts take the place of four others who had to cut their mission short after one of them had a medical issue.

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CAPE CANAVERAL: The International Space Station returned to full strength on Saturday (Feb 14) with the arrival of four new astronauts to replace colleagues who left early because of health concerns.

SpaceX delivered the US, French and Russian astronauts a day after launching them from Cape Canaveral.

Last month's medical evacuation was NASA’s first in 65 years of human spaceflight. One of the four astronauts launched by SpaceX last summer suffered what officials described as a serious health issue, prompting their hasty return. That left only three crew members to keep the place running - one American and two Russians - prompting NASA to pause spacewalks and trim research.

Moving in for eight to nine months are NASA’s Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, France’s Sophie Adenot and Russia’s Andrei Fedyaev. Meir, a marine biologist, and Fedyaev, a former military pilot, have lived up there before. During her first station visit in 2019, Meir took part in the first all-female spacewalk.

Adenot, a military helicopter pilot, is only the second French woman to fly in space. Hathaway is a captain in the US Navy.

NASA has refused to divulge the identity of the astronaut who fell ill in orbit on Jan 7 or explain what happened, citing medical privacy. The ailing astronaut and three others returned to Earth more than a month sooner than planned. They spent their first night back on Earth at the hospital before returning to Houston.

The space agency said it did not alter its preflight medical checks for their replacements.

Source: Agencies/fs

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