NASA’s Crew 12 mission got underway this morning, lighting up early morning skies across Florida during the 5:15 AM commute to orbit. The four person crew, consisting of NASA Astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, ESA Astronaut Sophie Adenot, and Roscosmos Cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev, launched on board Crew Dragon Freedom and are expected to arrive at the International Space Station on Saturday, February 14th.

This launch marks an important return to operations for the ISS, which has been operating in a reduced science capacity since the early return of Crew-11 in January. That early return, which was to allow for one of the crew members to be treated for a medical issue that occurred while in orbit, resulted in only the three member Soyuz MS-28 crew managing the laboratory for the past few weeks. The stations normal operations outside of science were mostly unaffected by the reduced crew size, with the only major change being the delay of a planned spacewalk to begin installation of another ISS Roll-Out Solar Array.

Crew 12 is scheduled to be a more than eight month long mission, filling the gap from Crew 11s early return. This mission is also slated to be the longest single spaceflight for a US crew vehicle, eclipsing the 235 day record currently held by Crew Dragon Endeavour.

During the mission, there are a few major science activities planned, with two major biological experiments lined up early. The first is a study into how certain pneumonia causing bacterias are able to cause an increased risk of heart disease. This test leverages how microgravity affects bacteria, typically making it more aggressive, to allow for more in depth studies of the progression through tissue samples.

The second biological experiment is designed around demonstrating successful nitrogen fixation on plants in microgravity. Nitrogen fixation is an important part of growing certain plants, and thus far has not been demonstrated in orbit. If successful, this would open the door for certain calorie and nutrient rich plants, to be grown in space.

With Crew 12 on the way, scientists from around the world can breathe as the ISS is poised to once again be fully active for its major science operations.