NASA and SpaceX have placed the earliest possible departure of Crew-12 from the International Space Station at 1:05 a.m. EDT on Wednesday, October 7. The target follows a review of weather forecasts and splashdown conditions off the California coast.

NASA Blogs reported the revised planning date on Saturday, October 3. The agency’s no-earlier-than language leaves room for a delay if the spacecraft, recovery fleet or landing environment does not meet safety requirements.

The returning crew consists of NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, European Space Agency astronaut Sophie Adenot and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev. Under the working timeline, their SpaceX Dragon capsule would splash down at about 11:25 a.m. on Thursday, October 8.

That time could move slightly after mission managers select a specific recovery zone. Different landing points off California require somewhat different orbital departure and re-entry timelines, while local wind, waves, visibility and maritime traffic can affect whether a site remains usable.

Undocking is only the first visible step in a carefully sequenced journey. Dragon must separate cleanly from the station, perform departure burns, establish the correct path for re-entry and execute a deorbit maneuver before its capsule encounters the intense heating of atmospheric return.

Parachute deployment then slows the vehicle for an ocean landing. Recovery personnel must be positioned close enough to reach the capsule promptly, secure it in moving water and assist crew members whose balance, circulation and muscle function may need time to readjust after living in microgravity.

Mission controllers will therefore examine more than the forecast at the moment of splashdown. Spacecraft health, communications coverage, recovery-vessel readiness, sea state and conditions along the wider return corridor all contribute to a final go-or-no-go decision.

A further weather assessment is expected roughly 48 hours before undocking. That review should provide more reliable short-range information and allow planners to narrow the options, although forecasts will continue to be monitored through hatch closure, separation and re-entry.

Before leaving, Crew-12 will transfer operational responsibilities to the station’s continuing residents. The formal handover is scheduled for Sunday, October 4, ensuring that experiments, maintenance tasks and emergency roles remain clearly assigned as the orbital laboratory moves from one crew configuration to another.

Meir is due to hand command of the station to Roscosmos cosmonaut Pyotr Dubrov during a farewell and change-of-command ceremony beginning at 10:20 a.m. EDT. NASA intends to stream the event through its online services and says additional broadcast information will follow.

Station command is both symbolic and operational. Flight directors on Earth retain responsibility for overall mission control, but the onboard commander leads crew coordination, supports decision-making during emergencies and helps maintain an effective working environment among astronauts representing several agencies.

The return plan also illustrates why human-spaceflight schedules remain conditional until late in the process. A launch can sometimes wait for weather to improve over a relatively short period, whereas a splashdown requires acceptable conditions at the correct place and time, together with ships, medical staff and aircraft ready to respond.

If managers decline the October 7 opportunity, Crew-12 can remain aboard the station while teams evaluate another return window, provided consumables and broader station operations support the extension. A postponement would consequently be a normal risk-management decision rather than evidence by itself of a malfunction.

NASA and SpaceX are expected to identify the preferred splashdown site closer to departure. Their final plan will align orbital mechanics with marine safety, crew health and recovery logistics, turning the provisional schedule into a confirmed sequence only after each requirement has been satisfied.