With Crew-12, Jessica Meir, Jack Hathaway, Sophie Adenot, and Andrey Fedyaev have arrived at the International Space Station. I’ll be following this mission closely and will continue adding collectibles related to the mission. │ Last update: 08/08/2026
Mission Control
Lift-off, Décollage, Поехали! The very first crewed orbital spaceflight of 2026 lifted off on February 13 from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. At 10:15 UTC, ignition of the Falcon 9 with the Crew Dragon “Freedom” on top marked the start of Crew-12’s cosmic journey (video). Destination: ISS.The Crew
“Freedom” lifted off carrying its full international crew of four astronauts and cosmonauts:
Marine biologist Jessica Meir (born 1977) is serving as mission commander for NASA and is on her second spaceflight
In 2019, she launched to the ISS aboard Soyuz MS-15, joining Expedition 61/62. There, she made history alongside Christina Koch by conducting the first all-female spacewalk. Notable coincidence: Crew-12 lifted off almost face-to-face with the SLS Block 1 rocket, currently being prepared for the Artemis II circumlunar mission, with Koch assigned to that flight.
U.S. Navy test pilot Jack Hathaway (born 1982) is making his first trip to space as the spacecraft pilot
Together with Adenot, he shares the distinction of being the 738th human to cross the Kármán line (100 kilometers or 62 miles).
Engineer and helicopter pilot Sophie Adenot (born 1982) serves as mission specialist for the European Space Agency
She is the 84th woman to enter Earth orbit, and just the second from France—after Claudie Haigneré, who visited the ISS nearly 25 years ago. Adenot’s flight is designated ESA’s “epsilon” mission, tied to an extensive experimental research program.
Military pilot Andrey Fedyaev (born 1981) is a flight engineer representing Roscosmos and is on his second spaceflight
He previously launched to the ISS in 2023 aboard SpaceX Crew-6 as part of Expedition 68/69. For Crew-12, he replaced Oleg Artemyev as a late backup. He is now the first Russian—and the first non-American—to fly twice aboard a Crew Dragon spacecraft.
ISS Expedition 74
Docking occurred on February 14 at 20:15 UTC at the Harmony module (Node 2) of the ISS (video). This marks the 128th crewed mission to the ISS; detailed statistics are available here and here.
Crew-12 replaced the Crew-11 team (Zena Cardman, Michael Fincke, Kimiya Yui, Oleg Platonov) who returned to Earth a month early for still-undisclosed medical reasons (update). Their departure left Expedition 74 with a three-person “skeleton crew”: Sergey Kud-Sverchkov, Sergey Mikayev, and Christopher Williams, who had arrived in November 2025 aboard Soyuz MS-28. Photos of the hearty welcome ceremony are featured on Alex Panchenko’s website.
After integrating Crew-12, Expedition 74 conducted an extensive scientific program. Several spacewalks originally planned for Crew-11 had to be carried out. Cargo flights using Cargo Dragon, Cygnus XL, and Progress MS continued to arrived as scheduled.
For details and updates on Crew 12 and Expedition 74, check out NASA Mission Profile, ISS Daily Blog, and NSF Forum.
Expedition 74 Milestones (Through Late July)
Feb 26, 2026
T+13d
Undocking of SpaceX CRS-33 Cargo Dragon (video)
Mar 6, 2026
T+21d
Unberthing of JAXA’s HTV-X1 (video)
Mar 12, 2026
T+27d
Unberthing of Northrop Grumman CRS NG-23 Cygnus XL S.S. William “Willie” C. McCool (video)
Apr 7, 2026
T+53d
Ship-to-ship call with the Artemis II Astronauts (video)
Cosmonautics Day
Apr 12, 2026
T+58d
ISS celebrates the 65th anniversary of Gagarin’s historic flight (photos)
Apr 13, 2026
T+59d
Berthing of Northrop Grumman CRS NG-24 Cygnus XL S.S. Steven R. Nagel (video)
April 23, 2026
T+69d
NASA has confirmed SpaceX Crew-13, set to replace Crew-12 (info)
May 1, 2026
T+77d
NASA has confirmed launch date and crew of Soyuz MS-29 (info)
May 17, 2026
T+93d
Docking of SpaceX CRS-34 Cargo Dragon (video)
June 5, 2026
T+112d
Safe Haven Procedure: Astronauts seek shelter in Crew-12’s Dragon capsule, while Roscosmos cosmonauts investigate a (recurring) pressure drop in the PrK transfer tunnel of the Zvezda module (report)
June 9, 2026
T+116d
Expedition 74 members sending wishes to the newly nominated Artemis III Astronauts (video)
June 16, 2026
T+123d
Undocking of SpaceX CRS-34 Cargo Dragon (video)
Jul 14, 2026
T+151d
Hatch opening and welcome ceremony for Soyuz MS-29, temporarily increasing the ISS crew to ten astronauts & cosmonauts (video)
Jul 15, 2026
T+152d
Decision on the Future of the ISS: Russia and the U.S. have agreed to operate the ISS through 2030, two years longer than NASA had previously planned (report)
Jul 25, 2026
T+162d
Crew-12 in Charge: Shortly before his departure, Sergey Kud-Sverchkov hands over command of the ISS to Jessica Meir (video)
ISS Expedition 75
The “old” ISS crew—including commander Kud-Sverchkov—was returned to Earth aboard Soyuz MS-28 after undocking on July 26, shortly after the arrival of Soyuz MS-29 (Pyotr Dubrov, Anna Kikina, Anil Menon).
The new arrivals joined Crew-12 to form Expedition 75, with Jessica Meir assuming command. Andrey Fedyaev and Anna Kikina reunited in orbit, having briefly overlapped on the ISS in March 2023.
For details and updates on Expedition 75, check out NASA Mission Profile and NSF Forum.
At the time of Crew-12’s launch, the long-term schedule remained fluid and remained so as Expedition 75 began. The mission was planned for about eight months—longer than the standard six-month increment. NASA had initially projected a return no earlier than October 2026, while ESA planning pointed toward November. However, NASA subsequently confirmed SpaceX Crew-13 (Jessica Watkins, Luke Delaney, Joshua Kutryk, Sergei Teteryatnikov) at the end of April and, at the same time, advanced the launch, though it will take place “no earlier than mid-September.” It is currently unclear whether this will result in Crew-12 returning sooner.
Since 2020, NASA has conducted its crewed missions to the ISS through private providers under the Commercial Crew Program, so far exclusively using SpaceX’s reusable Crew Dragon spacecraft vehicles. For Crew-12, Dragon-2 #C212 “Freedom” was on its fifth flight, the Falcon 9 Block 5’s first stage #B1101 was used the second time.
Expedition 75 Milestones (Starting in Late July)
Selected Items from My Collection
NASA crew photo
Classic NASA-style crew lithograph, signed on both the front and back by all Crew-12 members just a few days before launch.
Astronaut Jessica Meir
Star City Soyuz simulator training in the Sokol spacesuit, preparing for her first spaceflight aboard Soyuz MS-15 (2019).
Astronaut Sophie Adenot
Official ESA promotional card; at the European Astronaut Centre in Cologne (2023); and as a helicopter pilot with DGA Essais en Vol, the flight-test department of the French Defense Acquisition Agency (2022).
Cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev
Star City spacewalk training in the Orlan spacesuit (late 2010s); SpaceX “starman” pressure suit (2023); Cosmonautics Day (2024) and Cosmonaut Training Center anniversary (2025) with nine (then) active fellow cosmonauts: Oleg Artemyev, Konstantin Borisov, Pyotr Dubrov, Sergei Korsakov, Denis Matveyev, Oleg Novitsky, Dimitri Petelin, Sergei Prokopyev, Ivan Vagner.
Soyuz MS-28
Soyuz MS-29
Christopher Williams, Sergey Kud-Sverchkov, Sergey Mikayev.
Anil Menon, Pyotr Dubrov, Anna Kikina.
Soyuz MS-29 Backup
(expected to be Soyuz MS-30)
Deniz Burnham, Dmitry Petelin, Konstantin Borisov.
Event Covers
By Gus Kathmann (Red Eagle Stamps & Covers).
By Dennis Ranski.
By John R. Mitchell (JM). Editions of 4, 6 or 10.
Various other cachetmakers.
By Lollini. Some editions ltd. to 80 covers.
By SAS Cachets.
By Chris Pazar (Pine Tree Letterpress Yarmouth). Edition of 15.
By Tom K. Reynolds (Galactic Space Covers). Edition of 5.
By Terry Chamberlin. Edition of 8.
By Dave Silcox. Edition of 14.
By Michael K. Drummond (Aristocrat Cachets).
Support from Baikonur
Progress MS-33.
Progress MS-34.
Recap: Expedition 68/69 with Andrey Fedyaev
Flown Soyuz pin, mounted after return on a segment of parachute line from Soyuz MS-23
Fedyaev had originally been assigned to that flight before being “rebooked” to Crew Dragon. Soyuz MS-23 instead flew uncrewed to the ISS to ensure a safe return for Sergey Prokopyev, Dmitry Petelin, and Francisco Rubio after their Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft was punctured by a micrometeoroid.
Flown cover, postmarked March 16, 2023—the day CRS-27 (Cargo Dragon C209) docked with the ISS
Signed by all seven crew members aboard ISS at the time: Stephen Bowen, Andrey Fedyaev, Warren Hoburg, Sultan Al Neyadi (Crew-6), and Dmitry Petelin, Sergey Prokopyev, Francisco Rubio (Soyuz MS-22/23).
Flown cover, postmarked February 26 and April 12, 2023—the day Soyuz MS-23 docked with the ISS, and Cosmonautics Day
The Soviet envelope dates back to 1982 and commemorates the 25th anniversary of Sputnik. In total, 19 people have signed while in space: members of Crew-6 and Soyuz MS-22, plus Josh Cassada, Nicole Aunapu Mann, Anna Kikina, Koichi Wakata (Crew-5), Ali AlQarni, Rayyanah Barnawi, John Shoffner, Peggy Whitson (Axiom-2), and Konstantin Borisov, Satoshi Furukawa, Jasmin Moghbeli, Andreas Mogensen (Crew-7). These represent all astronauts and cosmonauts simultaneously aboard the ISS with Crew-6.
To my knowledge, only about a dozen such covers exist. Photographs document it floating inside Zvezda module—the core of the Russian segment and effectively the ISS “rear” section.