Two Americans, a Russian man and a French woman are on the cusp of departing to the International Space Station for a nine-month stay.

Selected for a joint NASA and SpaceX mission known as Crew-12, the contingent of international astronauts could head to their new cosmic digs as early as Friday, Feb. 13. Once there, they’ll settle in and prepare to spend their time helping with routine station maintenance and conducting scientific experiments designed for microgravity.

Such a mission outlook has come to be standard for the series of ventures under NASA’s commercial crew program.

But the Crew-12 mission has taken on a little more significance and urgency. That’s because the orbital laboratory has been understaffed since mid-January when the four Crew-11 astronauts were rushed home after one of them had a health issue.

And when NASA had to postpone to March its historic Artemis 2 mission around the moon – originally slated for liftoff from Florida around the same time – the path was cleared for Crew-12 to get off the ground a few days early.

2025 spaceflight in photos. See images of Blue Origin, SpaceX missions

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Firefly’s Blue Ghost lunar lander captures its shadow on the moon’s surface after completing a successful landing March 2 near a volcanic feature on the moon called Mons Latreille. The vehicle became the first of two landers manufactured by a U.S. company to reach the moon is 2025 in crucial missions to lay the groundwork for NASA to return humans to the lunar surface in the years ahead.

Ahead of launch, here’s a look at photos of the Crew 12 astronauts, and a little about the mission.

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 commander Jessica 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

Photos show crew members of SpaceX Crew-12 mission

The below gallery is composed of photos of all four astronauts selected for the Crew-12 mission to the International Space Station.

Here’s a look:

SpaceX Crew-12 mission to send 4 astronauts to space station. Photos

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The four crew members representing NASA’s SpaceX Crew-12 mission to the International Space Station pose for a portrait at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. From left are, Roscosmos cosmonaut and Mission Specialist Andrey Fedyaev, NASA astronauts Jack Hathaway and Jessica Meir, Crew-12 Pilot and Commander respectively, and ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut and Mission Specialist Sophie Adenot.

When is the Crew 12 launch date?

The Crew-12 mission was bumped up a few days so the astronauts can get to an understaffed space station after the mission’s Crew-11 predecessors were medically evacuated in mid-January.

NASA is now working toward a Crew-12 launch at 5:15 a.m. ET Friday, Feb. 13, from Launch Pad 40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will provide the initial burst of thrust to propel a Dragon capsule toward the ISS with the crew aboard. Were the mission to launch as scheduled, the astronauts aboard the Dragon would then dock Saturday, Feb. 14, at the International Space Station, 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 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.

Eric Lagatta is the Space Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at elagatta@gannett.com

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NASA, SpaceX Crew-12 mission to launch. See photos of astronauts