Crew members of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-12 mission, from left to right, Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev, NASA astronauts Jack Hathaway and Jessica Meir, and ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Sophie Adenot, participate in a news conference from Astronaut Crew Quarters inside the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026.
(NASA)
A NASA and SpaceX launch originally scheduled for Wednesday has been pushed back because of weather conditions not at the launch site, but along the flight path.
NASA announced the delay on Monday after mission teams completed a weather review.
While the forecast for Cape Canaveral, Florida, calls for a quiet morning on Wednesday with temperatures in the 50s and mostly cloudy skies, that launch site forecast isn’t the only one that matters.
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Weather.com meteorologist Sara Tonks explains that NASA monitors forecasts for more than 50 locations along the ascent track in case an emergency escape is necessary.
She says, “The northern Atlantic Ocean is going to be active on Wednesday morning with multiple areas of low pressure stretching across the ocean along the flight path for the original anticipated launch, which can mean unfavorable conditions for wind, waves, lightning and precipitation, all of which need to be taken into consideration before a launch.”
So, NASA is hoping conditions will improve by Thursday morning, targeting a launch window beginning at 5:38 a.m. EST.
SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft will be taking four astronauts to the International Space Station. They will be replacing Crew-11 who left the ISS one month early in January, in the first ever medical evacuation.
One member of that crew suffered a medical issue or injury that ended their mission. NASA did not identify which astronaut was ill.
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Now, NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, along with cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev and European Space Agency astronaut Sophie Adenot will remain in quarantine until Thursday’s planned launch.
Jessica Meir will also be taking along a special guest with her: a small stuffed rabbit.
Meir shared that the toy belongs to her 3-year-old daughter.
“She actually has two of these because one was given as a gift. So one will stay down here with her, and one will be there with us, having adventures all the time, so that we’ll keep sending those photos back and forth to my family,” she said.
This new crew is expected to be stationed at the ISS for nine months.