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 gradually update with collectibles related to the current flight. │ Last update: 04/17/2026
Mission Control
The very first crewed orbital space flight 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” launched at full capacity with an international crew of four astronauts/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 virtually 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 position 738 on the list of all humans who have crossed 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 ISS mission; detailed statistics are available here and here.
Crew-12 replaces 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 will execute a comprehensive scientific program. Two spacewalks originally planned for Crew-11 must also be completed. Several cargo missions are scheduled, including flights of the Cargo Dragon, Cygnus XL, and Progress MS.
For details and updates, check out NASA Mission Profile, ISS Daily Blog, and NSF Forum.
Some Milestones
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)
Apr 12, 2026
Cosmonautics Day
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)
Looking Ahead to Expedition 75
The “old” ISS crew—including present commander Kud-Sverchkov—is expected to return to Earth aboard Soyuz MS-28 in late July, shortly after the arrival of Soyuz MS-29 (expectedly: Pyotr Dubrov, Anna Kikina, Anil Menon). The new arrivals will join Crew-12 to form Expedition 75, with Jessica Meir assuming command. Andrey Fedyaev and Anna Kikina will reunite in orbit, having briefly overlapped on the ISS in March 2023.
At the time of Crew-12’s launch, the long-term schedule remained fluid. The mission is planned for approximately eight months—longer than the standard six-month increment. NASA has projected a return no earlier than October 2026, while ESA planning pointed toward November. The exact timeline depends on a still-unconfirmed Crew-13 mission (expectedly: Luke Daniel, Joshua Kutryk, Jessica Watkins, Sergei Teteryatnikov).
Since 2020, NASA has conducted its crewed ISS flights through private providers under the Commercial Crew Program, so far exclusively using SpaceX’s reusable Crew Dragon spacecrafts. For Crew-12, Dragon-2 #C212 “Freedom” is flying for the fifth time, the Falcon 9 Block 5’s first stage #B1101 was used the second time. It is now considered unlikely that Boeing’s Starliner-2 will become operational as an alternative provider in the foreseeable future.
Selected Items From My Collection
NASA crew photo
Signed on both sides by all Crew-12 members just a few days before launch.
Astronaut Jessica Meir
Star City Soyuz simulator training in the Sokol spacesuit, getting ready for her first mission with Soyuz MS-15 (2019).
Astronaut Sophie Adenot
Official ESA promotional card; in the European Astronaut Centre in Cologne (2023), as a helicopter pilot of 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); in the SpaceX “starman” spacesuit (2023).
Soyuz MS-28
Soyuz MS-29 (expected)
Christopher Williams, Sergey Kud-Sverchkov, Sergey Mikayev.
Anil Menon, Pyotr Dubrov, Anna Kikina.
Event Covers
By Dennis Ranski.
By Gus Kathmann (Red Eagle Stamps & Covers).
By John R. Mitchell (JM), limited editions of 4, 6 or 10 pcs.
By Lollini, some are limited editions of 80 pcs.
By Tom K. Reynolds (Galactic Space Covers), limited edition of 5 pcs.
By Terry Chamberlin, limited edition of 8 pcs.
By Dave Silcox, limited edition of 14 pcs.
By SAS Cachets.
Various other cachetmakers.
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.