Florida, USA – Crew-12 lifted off from the Space Coast on Friday, beginning their journey to the International Space Station.

The mission replaces four crew members who ended their stay early due to a medical issue. The new crew will conduct research during their eight-month mission, supporting future moon and Mars exploration.

NASA reports that experiments will include studies on pneumonia treatment, on-demand intravenous fluid generation, automated plant monitoring, nitrogen-fixing microbe interactions for space food production, and blood flow effects during spaceflight.

The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft is carrying NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, European Space Agency astronaut Sophie Adenot, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev to the orbiting laboratory for the science-focused mission.

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