A crew of four astronauts, two of whom have never been into space, arrived on the International Space Station (ISS) on an eight-month science mission on Saturday (February 14).

The crew arrived aboard a Dragon capsule dubbed Freedom after it was launched on a SpaceX rocket from Florida on Friday (February 13).

The mission, designated Crew-12, marks the 12th long-duration ISS team that NASA has flown aboard a SpaceX launch vehicle since the private rocket venture founded in 2002 by billionaire Elon Musk began sending U.S. astronauts to orbit in May 2020.

Crew-12 was led by Jessica Meir, 48, a veteran astronaut and marine biologist on her second trip to the space station, nearly seven years after making history with NASA colleague Christina Koch by completing history's first all-female spacewalk.

Joining her was Jack Hathaway, 43, a former U.S. Navy fighter pilot and rookie astronaut; European Space Agency astronaut Sophie Adenot, 43, a master helicopter pilot from France; and Russian cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev, a former military pilot on his second mission to the ISS.

Crew-12 was welcomed aboard the space station by three current ISS occupants - NASA astronaut Chris Williams and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Sergei Mikaev.

The ISS, which spans the length of a football field and ranks as the largest human-made object in space, has been continuously operated by a U.S.-Russian-led consortium that includes Canada, Japan and 11 European countries.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

IN SPACE (FEBRUARY 14, 2026) (NASA – for editorial use only) (PART MUTE)

1. DRAGON CAPSULE [DUBBED ‘FREEDOM’] IN FLIGHT

2. VIEW OF CREW LOOKING AT FLIGHT DISPLAYS INSIDE CAPSULE

3. CREW LOOKING AT FLIGHT DISPLAYS INSIDE CAPSULE

4. INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION (ISS) IN SPACE

5. CREW LOOKING AT FLIGHT DISPLAYS INSIDE CAPSULE

6. ISS OVER EARTH

7. CLOSE OF DRAGON CAPSULE APPROACHING ISS

8. DRAGON CAPSULE SEEN AT A DISTANCE FROM ISS

9. DRAGON CAPSULE APPROACHING ISS

10. VARIOUS OF DRAGON CAPSULE APPROACHING DOCKING STATION

11. SPLIT SCREEN OF TWO SHOTS OF DRAGON CAPSULE AS IT DOCKS

12. DRAGON CAPSULE. DOCKING

13. CREW OF DRAGON CAPSULE ENTERING ISS IN ZERO GRAVITY, BEGINNING WITH ESA (EUROPEAN SPACE AGENCY) ASTRONAUT SOPHIE ADENOT, THEN NASA ASTRONAUT JACK HATHAWAY, THEN RUSSIAN COSMONAUT ANDREY FEDYAEV

14. OLD AND NEW CREW MEMBERS FLOATING IN ZERO GRAVITY

15. NEW CREW MEMBER NASA ASTRONAUT JESSICA MEIR, ENTERING ISS

16. NEW CREW MEMBERS HIGH-FIVING EACH OTHER AND EMBRACING OLD CREW MEMBERS

17. WHITE FLASH

18. NEW CREW MEMBERS POSING FOR PHOTO [L-R], FEDYAEV, HATHAWAY, MEIR, ADENOT

19. WHITE FLASH

20. OLD CREW MEMBERS FLOATING BEHIND NEW CREW MEMBERS / OLD CREW MEMBERS ARE [L-R] RUSSIAN COSMONAUT, SERGEY KUD-SVERCHKOV, NASA ASTRONAUT, CHRISTOPHER WILLIAMS, RUSSIAN COSMONAUT, SERGEI MIKAYEV

21. (SOUNDBITE)(English) NEW AND OLD CREW MEMBERS STANDING TOGETHER AS THEY SPEAK TO MISSION CONTROL, WITH ASTRONAUTS TRAVELING INTO SPACE FOR THE FIRST TIME, NASA ASTRONAUT JACK HATHAWAY, THEN ESA (EUROPEAN SPACE AGENCY) ASTRONAUT SOPHIE ADENOT, SAYING:

HATHAWAY: “I don't even know how to describe what it's like to be up here. You just float in and it's just such a cool experience. It's been a great trip with my great Crew-12 friends. I'm so excited to join Expedition 74, see my classmate [high-fives the members of the old crew] again. Yeah, I'm real excited. I'm going to pass over to Sophie.”

ADENOT: “Thank you, Jack. Yeah, well, I would say that was quite a ride, but very fun. It was also great to have the help of Jessica and Andrey, two experienced… they are very generous in sharing all of the advice for us. So, very grateful for them. The first time we looked at the Earth was, wow, mind-blowing. The Earth is so beautiful from up there. And literally, we see no lines, no borders. And it was, yeah, a very big moment for us, Jack and me to see that for the first time. So, we're happy to share it with you in the future events.”

22. WHITE FLASH

23. (SOUNDBITE) NASA ASTRONAUT, JESSICA MEIR, SAYING:

“We are so excited to be here. And let’s get rolling with Expedition 74.”

24. [CONTINUOUS OVER SHOT 23] ASTRONAUTS ROLL IN ZERO GRAVITY