Astronauts arrive at the International Space Station after the crew left early due to medical problems

“This has been an amazing flight,” NASA Administrator Jessica Meir said immediately after the launch. “We left the Earth, but the Earth did not leave us.”

The launch had been postponed twice previously due to weather concerns.

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The SpaceX Dragon capsule carrying the new four-person crew approaches the International Space Station for docking on Saturday, February 14. (NASA via AP)

Joining Meir during the next eight to nine months on the space station will be NASA astronaut Jack Hathaway, Frenchman Sophie Adeno, and Russian Andrey Fedyev.

Meir, a marine biologist, and Fedyaev, a former military pilot, have been to the International Space Station before. Meir was also part of the first all-female spacewalk in 2019.

The astronauts spoke after arriving at the International Space Station on Saturday. (NASA)

Adeno is a military helicopter pilot, and Hathaway is a captain US Navy.

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Astronauts after arriving at the space station on Saturday. (NASA)

Adino is the second French woman to go into space.

“The spacecraft will take about 34 hours to dock autonomously with the International Space Station’s Harmony module at 3:15 p.m. on Saturday, February 14, while traveling at 17,000 miles per hour in Earth orbit,” NASA said after the launch on Friday.

Astronauts on Crew Mission 12: Pilot Jack Hathaway, Russian cosmonaut Andrei Fedyev, Commander Jessica Meir and French astronaut Sophie Adeno from the European Space Agency, leave the operations and exit building before heading to launch on Friday. (AP Photo/John Rao)

“What an absolutely wonderful start to the day.” NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman he said after the launch. “This mission demonstrated in many ways what mission focus means at NASA.”

“In the last two weeks, Crew 11 brought us home “Early on, we’ve pulled Crew-12 into today’s launch date, all while simultaneously preparing for the Artemis 2 mission, which will open its next window in early March,” he added.

“The flight is the 12th crew rotation with SpaceX to the orbiting laboratory as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. Crew-12 will conduct scientific investigations and technology demonstrations to help prepare humans for future exploration. Missions to the moon and Marsas well as benefiting people on Earth,” according to NASA.

NASA said the capsule’s door opened at 4:14 p.m. Central Time after it docked at the space station.

“We are very excited to be here and get to work,” Meir said after the crew arrived on Saturday.

Adino added: “The first time we looked at the Earth, it was amazing. We did not see any lines or boundaries.”

Just before the Saturday crew arrives One American Two Russians remained on the space station and kept it running.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket blasted off from Cape Canaveral to the International Space Station on Friday. (Paul Hennessy/Anadolu via Getty Images)

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Medical evacuation in January forward 65 years after NASA announced that a crew member had a serious health problem. The space agency did not reveal the nature of the medical condition or the name of the astronaut, citing medical privacy.

The astronaut carrying the medical emergency and the three other crew members who launched with him returned to Earth more than a month after the launch date. The decision was made to send them home.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.