Replacement space station crew to launch ahead of schedule.

Crew 12 — Jessica Meir, Jack Hathaway, Sophie Adenot and Andrey Fedyaev — are scheduled to launch Wednesday on a Falcon 9 from Cape Canaveral to replace Crew 11 after an early return for a medical issue, with docking expected Thursday; the flight was moved up after NASA delayed Artemis II.

Two Americans, a French astronaut and a Russian cosmonaut are scheduled to launch Wednesday to the International Space Station. They make up Crew 12: commander Jessica Meir, Jack Hathaway, European Space Agency astronaut Sophie Adenot and cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev. The flight will replace four Crew 11 members who returned to Earth early after a medical issue. NASA moved the launch earlier after the Artemis II moon mission was delayed. Current details: - The Falcon 9 launch is scheduled for 6:01 a.m. EST Wednesday from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, with docking planned for about 10:30 a.m. Thursday. - The launch slot opened after Artemis II was delayed to March because of a hydrogen leak in its Space Launch System rocket. - Meir and her crewmates arrived at the Kennedy Space Center from Houston and are in pre-flight medical quarantine; SpaceX erected the Falcon 9 and performed a first-stage engine test before dawn Sunday. - Since Crew 11 left early, the station has been staffed by three people: commander Sergey Kud-Sverchkov, cosmonaut Sergey Mikaev and NASA astronaut Chris Williams. - Crew 11 was ordered home Jan. 15 after one member experienced an undisclosed medical issue; Crew 12 did not get a full in-space handover but met with Crew 11 for a debrief. Meir and Fedyaev have prior long-duration station experience, while Hathaway and Adenot are on their first spaceflight. Summary: The arrival of Crew 12 will restore the station's long-duration complement to seven, allowing a return to a full schedule of experiments and the option for two-person NASA spacewalks in the U.S. segment. Launch is set for Wednesday morning with docking expected Thursday, and operations will continue based on mission timelines and crew health.