Video: Alumna Jessica Meir returns to space — this time as commander
March 3, 2026 •
On Feb. 13, NASA astronaut Jessica Meir and three crewmates lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida as part of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-12 mission, bound for the International Space Station (ISS), an orbiting laboratory nearly 250 miles above Earth.
They traveled aboard a Dragon spacecraft, arriving at the station on Feb. 14 after a 34-hour voyage.
Meir, a graduate of UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography, reflected on the remarkable view from orbit, saying, “When we gaze at our planet from above, it is immediately clear that everything is interconnected. The vast oceans, the continuous land masses and all that they contain. We are one humankind here on our shared home planet.”
The mission marks Meir’s second journey to the stars, building on a lifelong dream she first realized in 2019. This time, she serves as spacecraft commander for Crew-12 and Expedition 75 — a milestone that reflects her evolution from mentee to mentor.
Watch a video about Jessica’s experiences below, then read the whole story from the UC Newsroom.
Tags: astronauts, Jessica Meir, NASA, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego
