NASA says Crew-12 could leave space station October 5 after Crew-13 arrival

NASA said on October 2 that the four Crew-12 members could begin their return from the International Space Station as early as Monday, October 5, after Crew-13 arrived at the orbiting laboratory on Thursday. The departure depends on weather off the California coast. In the meantime, the new arrivals have raised the number of people aboard the station to 11, allowing the two crews to complete a handover before Crew-12 leaves.

The update moves the story beyond Crew-13’s launch and arrival: NASA has now set out the handover activities and the earliest possible start of Crew-12’s trip home. The agency has not announced a firm departure time. It says NASA and SpaceX are monitoring conditions near the return area and will provide more information after weather briefings over the weekend.

When could Crew-12 leave the space station?

NASA’s October 2 update says Crew-12 could begin its trip home as early as October 5 if weather permits. That is a conditional target, not a confirmed undocking appointment. NASA said additional departure weather briefings were planned for the weekend and that it would issue a return advisory afterward.

Spaceflight Now reported on October 1 that undocking was planned for October 5 and splashdown in the Pacific Ocean off southern California for October 6. NASA’s subsequent update describes October 5 as the earliest possible start of the return and leaves the schedule subject to weather. The reported splashdown plan should therefore be read as provisional.

What happens during the Crew-13 handover?

The four Crew-13 arrivals are NASA astronauts Jessica Watkins and Luke Delaney, Canadian Space Agency astronaut Joshua Kutryk and Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov. NASA said they would spend their first days adapting to weightlessness and familiarizing themselves with station systems. Their arrival gives the outgoing crew time to pass on responsibilities before departure.

NASA’s plan calls for Crew-13 to unpack Dragon on Saturday, October 3, transfer standard safety gear into the spacecraft and discuss emergency roles. On Sunday, October 4, Crew-12 is due to transfer its mission responsibilities to its replacements. The same day, Meir is scheduled to hand station command to Roscosmos cosmonaut Pyotr Dubrov at a change-of-command and farewell ceremony beginning at 10:20 a.m. Eastern time.

Spaceflight Now described the handover as an expedited orientation to station operations. It reported that Crew-12’s mission began with a February 13 launch. The overlap of the outgoing and incoming crews explains why the station temporarily has 11 people aboard and why departure preparations are taking place alongside the newcomers’ orientation.

How Crew-13 reached the station

Crew-13 launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on October 1. As NewsJaws reported in its earlier account of the Crew-13 launch, the four astronauts were headed toward the station. NASA subsequently reported that their Dragon docked at the forward port of the station’s Harmony module at 7:05 p.m. Eastern time that day. The completed docking and the October 2 departure update are the developments since that launch report.

The flight from launch to docking took seven hours and 55 minutes. NASA called it the fastest launch-to-docking trip by a US spacecraft in the history of the International Space Station. The Canadian Space Agency described it as a record for a SpaceX vehicle. Both accounts identify the same elapsed time; the agencies frame the record in different terms.

Docking did not immediately put the new arrivals inside the station. The Canadian Space Agency said the crew first equalized pressure between Dragon and the station, removed their launch suits and completed a leak check. It reported that the hatch opened at 9:19 p.m. Eastern time, after a process lasting about two hours. The arrivals then received an initial orientation and safety briefing.

What Crew-12’s departure would make possible

Spaceflight Now reported that Crew-12’s departure would free the Harmony module’s space-facing port for a SpaceX cargo Dragon planned to arrive on October 13. The planned cargo includes crew supplies, science equipment, spare parts and two roll-out solar array panels. That future arrival is part of the station’s reported schedule; its timing does not establish when Crew-12 will actually undock.

For now, the confirmed change is the arrival of Crew-13 and the increase to 11 people aboard. NASA has laid out the planned handover and an earliest possible return date for Crew-12. The precise departure and return timetable awaits the weather assessments and the agency’s promised advisory.