NASA’s Crew-12 packs Dragon for return as station teams check air and water

NASA said on September 29 that the four Crew-12 astronauts aboard the International Space Station packed their SpaceX Dragon and prepared it for their return to Earth. The work moves their departure preparations forward as the station awaits a planned replacement crew, while other astronauts continue checks on the air and water systems that support life aboard the outpost.

Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway of NASA, Sophie Adenot of the European Space Agency and Andrey Fedyaev of Roscosmos are the four returning crew members. Meir is due to command Dragon, with Hathaway as pilot. NASA says the crew launched on February 13 and docked with the station the following day; its September 29 account describes preparations for a flight home, not a completed departure.

What Crew-12 did to prepare Dragon

The four astronauts took turns packing personal belongings and other cargo into the spacecraft on Tuesday, according to NASA’s station update. Three also spoke with mission controllers in standard debriefing conferences about their experiences. NASA did not say which three participated in those calls, and it gave no precise time for Dragon to undock.

Meir worked with NASA flight engineer Anil Menon to configure Dragon’s seats and rearrange emergency equipment ahead of undocking. Menon is staying aboard the station rather than returning with Crew-12. Fedyaev made a separate handover preparation: NASA said he deleted his personal data from station laptops and configured the computers for the incoming Crew-13 astronauts.

Air and water work continued across the station

Departure preparations were only part of Tuesday’s schedule. Hathaway replaced a potable water dispenser in the Unity module and collected water samples for analysis, NASA reported. Adenot measured airflow in her crew quarters in Harmony to check circulation. NASA described those as routine work and did not publish sample results or report that the checks had found an air or water problem.

In the station’s Russian modules, Fedyaev transferred and filtered water between tanks as a measure to prevent contamination and keep water safe for crew use, according to NASA. Pyotr Dubrov transferred water from the docked Progress 96 cargo spacecraft into the station. These tasks took place alongside the return preparations, with the station still supporting both departing and continuing crew members.

Dubrov and fellow Roscosmos cosmonaut Anna Kikina, who will remain aboard with Menon, installed a gas analyser in the Zvezda service module to measure air quality and composition. Kikina also checked video recording equipment and installed automated Earth observation gear. NASA said that equipment was set to photograph landmarks in Africa and Asia while the crew slept.

Crew-13 handover sets the return sequence

NASA expects Crew-13 to arrive on Thursday, October 1, with Crew-12 leaving a few days afterward. Space.com reported on September 23 that the incoming flight is planned to bring NASA astronauts Jessica Watkins and Luke Delaney, Canadian Space Agency astronaut Joshua Kutryk and Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov. The two crews are expected to overlap briefly before Meir’s team returns; the launch, arrival and departure remain future events.

That schedule follows a delay. Space.com reported that NASA detected an oxidizer leak in Crew-13’s Dragon propulsion system on August 29, displacing an earlier September 12 launch target. Its September 17 report said the mission had been delayed twice to allow more preflight testing and data analysis. The October 1 target reported the following week gives a plan for the handover, but does not establish that the flight has taken place.

Adenot’s return has an additional, separate timetable. In a media notice, ESA said it expected her back on European soil around October 7 or 8, while stressing that arrangements remained provisional and depended on operations and her medical condition after landing. That estimate concerns her arrival in Europe; it is not a confirmed date for Dragon’s undocking or splashdown.

ESA says Adenot passed 200 days in orbit on September 3 and completed three spacewalks totaling 19 hours and 42 minutes during this mission. For now, NASA’s account places her among the four astronauts packing Dragon while the colleagues staying aboard carry on station maintenance. The next milestones are Crew-13’s planned arrival and the short handover before Crew-12 can leave.