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January 30, 2026<\/p>\n
2 min read<\/p>\n
Add Us On Google<\/span>Add SciAm<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n NASA stresses ISS crew safety as it gears up for next astronaut launch<\/p>\n After evacuating four astronauts from the ISS last month, NASA is looking ahead to its next crewed mission to the space station<\/p>\n By Claire Cameron edited by Jeanna Bryner<\/span><\/p>\n NASA is gearing up to launch a new crew to the International Space Station (ISS). But after an unprecedented evacuation of four astronauts from the station last month\u2014a first in the history of the ISS\u2014the space agency is especially emphasizing safety this time around.<\/p>\n The upcoming Crew-12 consists of NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, European Space Agency astronaut Sophie Adenot and Russian cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev. Currently, Crew-12 is set to launch sometime in the next two weeks\u2014the exact date has not yet been confirmed because NASA plans to launch Artemis II, its first crewed mission to the moon in more than 50 years, in the next week and a half.<\/p>\n Crew-12 is the replacement for Crew-11, which was evacuated from the space station weeks ahead of schedule because of an undisclosed medical condition affecting one of the astronauts in the team.<\/p>\n If you’re enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.<\/p>\n At a press conference on Friday, NASA associate administrator Ken Bowersox emphasized the safety of both the Crew-12 and Artemis II missions as paramount to deciding when, exactly, the former will launch to the station. Artemis II is set for a wet dress rehearsal, a crucial test of its fueling systems, on Monday. How that goes will determine when it launches; NASA has suggested the launch will occur no earlier than February 8. If that date shifts back further, it could also push back Crew-12\u2019s departure from Earth.<\/p>\n Nodding to two of NASA\u2019s worst moments in human space exploration, the Challenger and Columbia disasters, in which 14 astronauts in total died, Bowersox said that any launch in the month of January or February has always weighed on people\u2019s mind a NASA. \u201cIf you look back in history, that\u2019s when we\u2019ve lost spaceflight crews in the past,\u201d Bowersox said. \u201cWe always think about how we can operate our mission safely, and I just want to reassure you that that\u2019s always in the front of our minds as we\u2019re working on these missions.\u201d<\/p>\n The agency\u2019s work to coordinate the return of Crew-11 and the launches of Artemis II and Crew-12 within such a short time span has been particularly tricky, he said.<\/p>\n On Friday NASA officials said there were no additional medical tests for Crew-12 or other changes to the protocol for preparation ahead of living on the ISS, given the medical issue that caused Crew-11\u2019s sudden return. At a separate news conference on Friday, NASA astronaut Meir confirmed that the four members of Crew-12 had not undergone any additional health testing.<\/p>\n Dina Contella, NASA\u2019s International Space Station Program deputy manager, said the ISS is ready to receive Crew-12, although she acknowledged the crew members\u2019 arrival would be unusual. Departing crews typically have some time to show their replacements some of the quirks of the ISS. But when Crew-12 arrives, the crew members will be greeted by NASA astronaut Chris Williams, who will be able to show them the ropes.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re not tracking any problems whatsoever with not having that direct handover,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Meir said the four members of Crew-12 have been in contact with Crew-11 since the latter returned to the ground. \u201cWe don\u2019t think there\u2019ll be any hiccups along the way,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n If you enjoyed this article, I\u2019d like to ask for your support. 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I hope you\u2019ll support us in that mission.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" January 30, 2026 2 min read Add Us On GoogleAdd SciAm NASA stresses ISS crew safety as it gears up for next astronaut launch After evacuating four astronauts from the ISS last month, NASA is looking ahead to its next crewed mission to the space station By Claire Cameron edited by Jeanna Bryner NASA is<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":43258,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[50],"tags":[2536,3481,20665,2534,3164,3331,253,3801],"class_list":{"0":"post-43257","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-astronaut","9":"tag-crew","10":"tag-gears","11":"tag-iss","12":"tag-launch","13":"tag-nasa","14":"tag-safety","15":"tag-stresses"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43257","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=43257"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43257\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/43258"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=43257"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=43257"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=43257"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}On supporting science journalism<\/h2>\n
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