US astronaut will take her 3-year-old's cuddly rabbit into space.

NASA astronaut Jessica Meir said she will carry a stuffed rabbit belonging to her three-year-old daughter on the upcoming SpaceX Crew-12 flight to the International Space Station, which is scheduled to lift off from Cape Canaveral early Wednesday.

Jessica Meir will bring a small stuffed rabbit that belongs to her three-year-old daughter on the SpaceX Crew-12 mission to the International Space Station. The flight is scheduled to launch from Cape Canaveral on a Falcon 9 rocket early Wednesday. Astronauts often take small personal items to keep close during months-long stays aboard the station, which orbits roughly 250 miles (400 kilometers) above Earth. Meir, 48, served on the ISS in 2019–2020 and took part in the first all-female spacewalks before becoming a parent. Key details: - Meir said she has two of the same stuffed rabbit; one will stay with her daughter and one will travel to the station so the family can exchange photos. - SpaceX Crew-12 will lift off on a Falcon 9 from Cape Canaveral and will replace Crew-11 aboard the ISS. - Crew-11 returned to Earth in January a month earlier than planned during the first medical evacuation in the station's history. - Meir is a marine biologist and physiologist who previously served as a flight engineer on a 2019–2020 expedition to the station. - The ageing International Space Station has been continuously inhabited for about 25 years and is scheduled to be deorbited into an isolated area of the Pacific Ocean in 2030. Summary: Meir has said the upcoming roughly eight-month separation from her young daughter will be difficult but that the rabbit will help them stay connected while she is aboard the ISS. The crew is set to launch early Wednesday and will live and work on the station for the mission duration.