{"id":472641,"date":"2026-02-13T15:48:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-13T15:48:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/472641\/"},"modified":"2026-02-13T15:48:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-13T15:48:07","slug":"spacex-launches-new-astronauts-to-international-space-station-after-medical-evacuation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/472641\/","title":{"rendered":"SpaceX launches new astronauts to International Space Station after medical evacuation"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the company’s Dragon spacecraft on top launches from Space Launch Complex 40 for the Crew-12 mission at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Friday.JIM WATSON\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

A new crew rocketed toward the International Space Station on Friday to replace the astronauts who returned to Earth early in NASA\u2019s first medical evacuation.<\/p>\n

SpaceX launched the replacements as soon as possible at NASA\u2019s request, sending the U.S., French and Russian astronauts on an expected eight- to nine-month mission stretching until fall. The four should arrive at the orbiting lab on Saturday, filling the vacancies left by their evacuated colleagues last month and bringing the space station back to full staff.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt turns out Friday the 13th is a very lucky day,\u201d SpaceX Launch Control radioed once the astronauts reached orbit. \u201cThat was quite a ride,\u201d replied the crew\u2019s commander, Jessica Meir.<\/p>\n

Astronauts return to Earth in NASA\u2019s first medical evacuation<\/a><\/p>\n

NASA had to put spacewalks on hold and deferred other duties while awaiting the arrival of Americans Meir and Jack Hathaway, France\u2019s Sophie Adenot and Russia\u2019s Andrei Fedyaev. They\u2019ll join three other astronauts \u2013 one American and two Russians \u2013 who kept the space station running the past month.<\/p>\n

Satisfied with medical procedures already in place, NASA ordered no extra checkups for the crew ahead of liftoff and no new diagnostic equipment was packed. An ultrasound machine already up there for research went into overdrive on Jan. 7 when used on the ailing crew member. NASA has not revealed the ill astronaut\u2019s identity or health issue. All four returning astronauts went straight to the hospital after splashing down in the Pacific near San Diego.<\/p>\n

It was the first time in 65 years of human space flight that NASA cut short a mission for medical reasons.<\/p>\n

With missions becoming longer, NASA is constantly looking at upgrades to the space station\u2019s medical gear, said deputy program manager Dina Contella. \u201cBut there are a lot of things that are just not practical and so that\u2019s when you need to bring astronauts home from space,\u201d she said earlier this week.<\/p>\n

In preparation for moon and Mars trips where health care will be even more challenging, the new arrivals will test a filter designed to turn drinking water into emergency IV fluid, try out an ultrasound system that relies on artificial intelligence and augmented reality instead of experts on the ground, and perform ultrasound scans on their jugular veins in a blood clot study.<\/p>\n

They also will demonstrate their moon-landing skills in a simulated test.<\/p>\n

Adenot is only the second French woman to launch to space. She was 14 when Claudie Haignere flew to Russia\u2019s space station Mir in 1996, inspiring her to become an astronaut. Haignere cheered her on from the Florida launch site, wishing her \u201cBon vol,\u201d French for \u201cHave a good flight,\u201d and \u201cAd astra,\u201d Latin for \u201cTo the stars.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought it would have been a quiet joy with pride for Sophie, but it was so hugely emotional to see her with a successful launch,\u201d Haignere said.<\/p>\n

Hathaway, like Adenot, is new to space, while Meir and Fedyaev are making their second station trip. Just before liftoff, Fedyaev led the crew in a cry of \u201cPoyekhali\u201d \u2013 Russian for \u201cLet\u2019s Go\u201d \u2013 the word uttered at liftoff by the world\u2019s first person in space, the Soviet Union\u2019s Yuri Gagarin, in 1961.<\/p>\n

On her first mission in 2019, Meir took part in the first all-female spacewalk. The other half of that spacewalk, Christina Koch, is among the four Artemis II astronauts waiting to fly around the moon as early as March. A ship-to-ship radio linkup is planned between the two crews.<\/p>\n

Meir wasn\u2019t sure astronauts would return to the moon during her career. \u201cNow we\u2019re right here on the precipice of the Artemis II mission,\u201d she said ahead of liftoff. \u201cThe fact that they will be in space at the same time as us \u2026 it\u2019s so cool to be an astronaut now, it\u2019s so exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n

SpaceX launched the latest crew from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Elon Musk\u2019s company is preparing its neighbouring Kennedy Space Center launch pad for the supersized Starships, which NASA needs to land astronauts on the moon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the company’s Dragon spacecraft on top launches…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":472642,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[901,888,902,879,877,903,49,48,876,895,896,891,878,875,46,549,295,894,887,914,880,881,893,889,890,884,904,885,909,910,912,907,911,905,908,882,898,899,714,897,906,66,865,61,900,892,886,883,913],"class_list":["post-472641","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-science","tag-alberta","tag-arts-news","tag-bc","tag-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news-video","tag-british-columbia","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canada-news","tag-canada-sports","tag-canada-sports-news","tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","tag-canadian-breaking-news","tag-canadian-news","tag-economy","tag-education","tag-environment","tag-federal-government","tag-foreign-news","tag-globe-and-mail","tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","tag-government","tag-life-news","tag-lifestyle","tag-local-news","tag-manitoba","tag-national-news","tag-new-brunswick","tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","tag-northwest-territories","tag-nova-scotia","tag-nunavut","tag-ontario","tag-pei","tag-photos","tag-political-news","tag-political-opinion","tag-politics","tag-politics-news","tag-quebec","tag-science","tag-sports-news","tag-technology","tag-travel","tag-trudeau","tag-us-news","tag-world-news","tag-yukon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/472641","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=472641"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/472641\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/472642"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=472641"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=472641"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=472641"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}