Fresh team removes for six-month stay aboard spaceport station

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket removed on a flight to the International Space Station Thursday bring 2 NASA astronauts, a cosmonaut and a Canadian whose better half prepares a launch of her own later on this year, bring to life the couple’s 3rd kid while her other half is away in area.

Strapped into a SpaceX Crew Dragon pill, Crew 13 leader Jessica Watkins, pilot Luke Delaney, Russian cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov and Canadian astronaut Joshua Kutryk launched from pad 40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 11:10 a.m. EDT.

The launch initially was prepared for mid September, however the flight was postponed to change a dripping valve in the Crew Dragon’s propulsion system.

Watkins, who holds a Ph.D. in geology, flew to area aboard a Crew Dragon in 2022. Her crewmates are area novices, the 296th, 297th and 298th astronauts to fly aboard the ISS. Delaney and Kutryk are both previous military test pilots while Teteryatnikov served in the Russian submarine force before ending up being a cosmonaut.

Kutryk and his partner Heather have 2 kids, ages 5 and 7. They’re anticipating their 3rd kid around Thanksgiving, about 2 months into the Crew 13 objective. In so doing, they will end up being the 4th couple in area history to have actually a kid born while one moms and dad was off the world.

“Leaving these 3 (plus one en route) is the hardest thing I’ve ever done,” Kutryk composed in a post on the social networks platform X. “But that has actually constantly been the nature of expedition.” He then estimated Norwegian arctic explorer Fridtjof Nansen, explaining his ideas upon setting off for the North Pole.

‘Behind me lay all I loved in life. And what lay before me? Delighted kid, bit do you understand what life is– how oddly mingled and how filled with modification … and now, a goodbye to home. It was the darkest hour of the entire journey.'”

Regardless of President Trump’s current displeasure towards Canada, the Canadian Space Agency continues to play a significant function in the U.S. area program. Together with providing the robotic arms that assisted develop the spaceport station, CSA astronaut Jeremy Hansen flew around the moon on NASA’s Artemis II objective. Kutryk is the 17th Canadian to fly in area.

“When I consider the spaceport station, I hope the tradition is that individuals see this beacon in the sky walking around Earth, among the most complicated things people have ever, ever produced, and they see it for all of its technical marvel and all the science and discoveries we’re making there,” he stated.

“But (I hope) they likewise see it as sort of this beacon for what we can do when we make great choices, when we interact and we team up and we focus on things. It’s testimony to what we’ve done, what we can do, and truly to what we hope the generations that follow can do.”

After increasing the Falcon 9 and Crew Dragon capsule out of the thick lower environment, the Falcon 9’s very first phase flew itself back to a determine landing at the Space Force station while the rocket’s upper phase continued the reach area. Minutes later on, the 2nd phase engine closed down and the team pill separated to fly by itself.

“What an impressive trip!” Delaney radioed. “What a legendary trip it was! Today, we happily continue the streak of human beings living and operating in orbit, structure on the traditions of the other day to lead the way for future of area expedition … Deepest gratitude to my friends and family who waited me throughout this whole venture. Thank you. I enjoy you guys. And to the Marines back in the world, Semper Fi.”

Like all flights to the International Space Station, piloted and unpiloted alike, the Crew 13 launch was timed for the minute Earth’s rotation brought the pad into the airplane of the station’s orbit. That’s a requirement for rendezvous objectives since no present rockets have the power to conquer their orbital momentum and alter their instructions of travel when moving at almost 5 miles per second.

While a Falcon 9 can not alter orbital aircrafts, the Crew Dragon pill can alter its elevation as needed, flying lower– and faster– to overtake its quarry and greater to decrease the method.

In this case, it will take Crew 13 pill simply 8 hours– a NASA record– to overtake the ISS, relocating for an automated docking at the forward port of the station’s Harmony module at 7 p.m.

“I personally am eagerly anticipating going back to the ISS along with flying on Dragon a 2nd time, and truly anticipating experiencing those experiences through the eyes of my crewmates,” Watkins stated.

“We anticipate an extremely hectic objective with great deals of station upkeep, both internal and external, with a couple of EVAs (spacewalks) on the docket in addition to going to car capture and stowage operations, great deals of science … and lots of outreach.”

Waiting to invite Watkins and business aboard will be the team they are changing: Crew 12 leader Jessica Meir, pilot Jack Hathaway, European Space Agency astronaut Sophie Adenot and cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev. They’re concluding a 235-day objective that started with launch atop a Falcon 9 rocket on Feb. 13.

Godspeed Crew-13! pic.twitter.com/W3r5aeAPHg

— Jessica Meir (@Astro_Jessica) October 1, 2026

On board: Soyuz MS-29/ 75S cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov, Anna Kikina and NASA astronaut Anil Menon, released on a Soyuz 2.1 a rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on July 14. They’re in the middle of an eight-month stay, going back to Earth in early April 2027.

After an accelerated “team handover,” throughout which Meir and her crewmates will reveal their replacements the ins and outs of station operations, Crew 12 will board their own Crew Dragon pill and go back to Earth. Undocking is prepared for Oct. 5 with splashdown in the Pacific Ocean off the southern California coast on Oct. 6.

“I believe the important things that I’m anticipating a lot of is seeing my three-and-a-half-year-old child,” stated Meir, a two-flight veteran with 7 spacewalks to her credit. “I’m so anticipating seeing nature once again, feeling the breeze on my face, the wind rustling through the leaves, experiencing all those things that we do not have up here.

“But I will really, quite miss out on being weightless all the time and the amazing views that we have.”

Said Hathaway: “Going home and having the ability to take a great long hot shower will be really peaceful and really great. And, obviously, I’m eagerly anticipating seeing my household. A hot shower is near the top of my list.”

Team 12’s departure will maximize the Harmony module’s space-facing port for the arrival of a SpaceX Cargo Dragon on Oct. 13 that will be filled with team materials, science equipment, extra parts and 2 roll-out solar selection panels. The Crew 13 fliers likewise anticipate to invite a Northrop Grumman freight ship in December, together with 2 Russian Progress trucks in November and February.

The roll-out solar varieties increasing on the next Dragon Cargo ship are the last sets in a significant upgrade to the station’s initial solar energy system that started with preliminary setups in June 2021. The last 2 sets will be set up throughout spacewalks late this month and early November.

Dragon separates from Falcon 9’s 2nd phase pic.twitter.com/Ay7VmubfF6

— SpaceX(@SpaceX)October 1, 2026

The significant objective of the flight, like all NASA objectives to the station, is performing research study in the microgravity environment of area. Ratings of experiments and innovation presentations are performing at any given minute with fresh research studies increasing on essentially every flight.

The Crew 13 fliers will deal with the exact same obstacles.

“During the objective, the team will assist us combat cardiovascular disease and Parkinson’s illness by studying human stem cell-derived tissues that will assist enhance medication, illness modeling, and pharmaceutical screening,” stated Dana Weigel, director of NASA’s low-Earth orbit objective directorate.

“They will likewise check out crop production that’s essential for longer-duration spaceflight objectives, and they’ll assist us much better comprehend blood circulation problems that we see in area, together with checking brand-new diagnostic medical devices for keeping track of team health. That’s simply a number of the highlights of the research study the team will be doing on board.”

All in all, Hathaway stated, the team is anticipating an action-packed remain in area.

” For me, in between the science, the spacewalks and whatever else that the exploration is going to have, it’s seeming a fun time,”Delaney stated. “Excited to release with this team, sign up with the exploration, and incorporate as an extension of NASA and all the ISS staff member. Interesting times ahead!”