NASA’s Crew-12 prepares to return after station science mission

NASA said on October 2 that its four Crew-12 astronauts are nearing the end of their science mission aboard the International Space Station and are scheduled to return to Earth in early October. The agency’s account describes research in medicine, materials and space technology, while a reported return plan calls for undocking on October 5 and splashdown the following day.

The returning crew comprises NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, European Space Agency astronaut Sophie Adenot and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev. They launched on February 13. Spaceflight Now reported on October 1 that the mission had reached 235 days in orbit; that figure described the crew’s stay at the time of its report, not its eventual total duration.

NASA’s new retrospective adds detail about the crew’s scientific work to its earlier departure preparations. In its previous account of Crew-12 packing for the trip home, the agency described arrangements inside the Dragon spacecraft and routine checks aboard the station. The new account focuses on experiments the astronauts supported and the questions researchers hope those experiments will help answer.

What Crew-12 studied aboard the space station

Among the projects NASA highlighted were pharmaceutical crystal growth and work in its Cold Atom Lab. The agency says microgravity can reveal details of crystal structures that researchers are studying to improve the quality and stability of medicines. It also says an upgrade to the Cold Atom Lab produces more ultracold atoms, giving scientists more data for research relevant to quantum technologies. Those are research aims; NASA’s account does not report a new medicine or commercial device resulting from this mission.

Other medical studies examined engineered cartilage and stem cells. NASA says the cartilage work investigates how tissue develops in microgravity, with the longer-term possibility of producing implants that resemble natural cartilage more closely. Its stem-cell experiment examines whether microgravity can produce greater numbers of clinical-grade cells that retain their ability to develop into other cell types. The agency links that question to possible future care for blood diseases; it does not claim a treatment is ready.

Hathaway also handled equipment for sequencing bacterial DNA aboard the station. NASA says some bacteria can resist antibiotics and other stresses, a concern in a closed spacecraft. Studying how they adapt in space could help researchers devise countermeasures for future missions. Separately, Meir worked on suspended-particle materials whose behavior in microgravity may inform products ranging from plant-growing materials to pharmaceuticals.

NASA reports that several small metal parts were printed in microgravity and returned to Earth for comparison with parts made on the ground. Making replacement parts when needed could eventually reduce dependence on supplies carried from Earth, but the comparison is still part of evaluating that possibility. Adenot also worked on producing intravenous fluid in microgravity, an approach NASA says could reduce the need to carry fluids that expire after about 16 months.

When Crew-12 is expected to return

NASA’s October 2 account gives an early-October return window without an exact date. Spaceflight Now reported a plan for Crew-12 to undock on October 5 and splash down in the Pacific Ocean off Southern California on October 6. Those dates are scheduled events, not a completed departure or landing.

The return follows Crew-13’s arrival and a brief handover between the crews, according to Spaceflight Now. NASA reported on September 29 that Crew-12 members were packing personal items and cargo inside Dragon; Meir also helped configure its seats and reorganize emergency equipment. The station’s continuing crew would remain aboard after Crew-12 left, NASA said in that update.

Spaceflight Now reported that Crew-12’s departure would free a docking port on the station’s Harmony module for a Cargo Dragon planned for October 13. That later flight was expected to bring supplies, science equipment, spare parts and solar-array panels. Its schedule, like Crew-12’s return dates, remained a plan at the time of the report.

For the astronauts, the return also ends months away from home. Meir told Spaceflight Now she looked forward to seeing her young daughter and experiencing nature again, while expecting to miss weightlessness and the view from the station. Hathaway said he looked forward to his family and a long, hot shower. Their comments put a human end point on a mission whose scientific results will require assessment beyond the crew’s flight.