NASA's SpaceX Crew-12 Mission Docks at International Space Station

The four members of NASA's SpaceX Crew-12 mission docked at the International Space Station on Saturday afternoon. The crew blasted off before dawn on Friday morning from Cape Canaveral in Florida.

The Crew-12 mission includes two NASA astronauts, Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, French astronaut Sophie Adenot from the European Space Agency, and Russian cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev. "We have so many countries represented, so many backgrounds, so many disciplines, and we are so excited to be here and to get to work," Meir said at the ISS welcome ceremony.

During their eight-month mission, the crew will conduct scientific research to prepare for human exploration beyond earth's orbit and enhance food production in space. "With Crew-12 safely on orbit, America and our international partners once again demonstrated the professionalism, preparation, and teamwork required for human spaceflight," NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said in a statement.

The mission replaces the crew from NASA's Crew-11 mission, which departed the ISS a month ahead of schedule in January due to a medical evacuation of one of the crew members. Since then, the space station has been operating with a reduced staff of three people — well below it's typical seven-person crew.

Isaacman also said that NASA is simultaneously making preparations for the 10-day Artemis II mission, which would send a crew of four astronauts around the moon. It's the first crewed mission to the moon since Apollo 17 in 1972 and is slated to take off as soon as March.