SpaceX Crew-12 launch date to be moved up. What to know about mission

• NASA and SpaceX are accelerating the Crew 12 mission to the International Space Station.
• The launch was moved up after the previous mission, Crew 11, returned early due to an astronaut's medical issue.
• Crew 12 is now scheduled to launch as early as Feb. 11 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

The next group of astronauts are preparing to head to the International Space Station for a lengthy stay.

NASA is hoping to accelerate the launch of a joint mission with SpaceX known as Crew-12 after four other astronauts on a previous mission had to be flown home early. That mission, Crew-11, came to an abrupt end when one of the crew members experienced a health issue that required an unprecedented medical evacuation from the orbital laboratory.

Because the space station has been understaffed since the Crew-11 departure on Jan. 14, NASA announced plans to get the Crew-12 astronauts on their way to the outpost a little sooner. Standard protocol, after all, is for outgoing astronauts to await the arrival of their replacements during what's known as a holdover period before they head back to Earth.

Here's everything to know about Crew-12, including the potential launch date and the names of the astronauts selected for the mission.

When is the Crew 12 launch date?

The Crew-12 mission, originally slated for no earlier than Feb. 15, could now get off the ground as early as 6:01 a.m. ET, Wednesday, Feb. 11, according to NASA.

What is the NASA, SpaceX Crew 12 mission?

As the name suggests, Crew-12 will be NASA and SpaceX's 12th human science expedition to the International Space Station. The astronauts are due to be stationed at the orbital laboratory for nine months, according to NASA.

The series of missions are contracted under NASA's commercial crew program. The program allows the space agency to pay SpaceX to launch and transport astronauts and cargo to orbit aboard the company's own vehicles, freeing up NASA to focus on its Artemis lunar program and other spaceflight missions, including future crewed voyages to Mars.

NASA is also hoping to certify Boeing's Starliner capsule to add a second operational vehicle for missions to the ISS before the station is retired by 2030.

SpaceX crew missions launch from Florida

SpaceX uses its Falcon 9 rocket – one of the most active in the world – to launch the crew missions in Florida, typically from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. The astronauts themselves ride a Dragon crew capsule – the only U.S. spacecraft capable of carrying astronauts to and from the space station – that separates from the rocket in orbit.

This time around, Crew-12 will instead lift off from Launch Pad 40 at the neighboring Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. That's both because NASA's Space Launch System rocket is still vertical at Launch Pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center for the now-delayed Artemis 2 moon mission, and because operations are paused at the historic Launch Pad 39A.

SpaceX mission to replace astronauts at ISS after medical evacuation

The accelerated launch of Crew-12 became necessary when NASA medically evacuated the four Crew-11 astronauts Jan. 15 after one them experienced a health issue.

Neither NASA nor the astronauts themselves have disclosed the name of the crew member or the nature of the medical concern that prompted the early end to the mission.

The crew members – NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and Russian cosmonaut Oleg Platonov – landed safely off the coast of California near San Diego.

Who are the astronauts on the Crew-12 mission?

The Crew-12 mission is composed of a contingent of four international astronauts, including two Americans.

Here's a look at the crew:

• Mission commanderJessica Meir, a marine biologist from Maine who was selected as a NASA astronaut in 2013 and is making her second trip to the space station;
• Pilot Jack Hathaway, a Navy pilot from Connecticut who is making his first spaceflight after he was selected as part of the 2021 NASA astronaut class;
• Mission specialist Sophie Adenot, an astronaut with the European Space Agency from France making her first spaceflight;
• Mission specialist Andrey Fedyaev, a cosmonaut with Russia's Roscosmos space agency making his second flight to the ISS.

What astronauts are on the International Space Station?

A skeleton crew of just three astronauts are living and working aboard the International Space Station.

NASA astronaut Chris Williams and Russians Sergey Mikaev and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov, who arrived at the end of November on a Soyuz MS-28 spacecraft, are also the newest additions at the orbital laboratory.

Eric Lagatta is the Space Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at [email protected]