NASA Readies 4-Astronaut Crew-13 Launch for Oct. 1 ISS Mission

Q: Why could Crew-13’s trip to the ISS become the fastest U.S. crewed mission yet, and what will the astronauts do once they arrive?

Crew-13 could set a U.S. speed record because NASA and SpaceX are targeting an unusually fast rendezvous profile: liftoff at 11:10 a.m. EDT and docking at about 7 p.m., a trip of roughly 7 hours and 50 minutes. NASA has said that, if the timeline holds, it would be the fastest U.S. crewed journey to the International Space Station so far. Once aboard the station, the four astronauts will open the hatch, join the Expedition 75 crew, and carry out a brief handover with Crew-12 before that team departs for Earth a few days later. After that, Crew-13 will begin its long-duration mission supporting station operations, maintenance, and research. Their science work will focus on human health and future exploration. NASA says the crew will help study stem-cell-derived tissues tied to heart disease and Parkinson’s disease, test how crops can be grown for longer missions, examine blood-flow changes in microgravity, and evaluate new medical monitoring equipment. The mission is also part of NASA’s broader Commercial Crew effort to keep a continuous human presence in low Earth orbit while advancing technologies and science useful for future Moon and Mars missions.

3 articles · Updated · Space.com · Sep 29

A SpaceX Falcon 9 and Dragon spacecraft are stacked on the pad ahead of NASA's Oct. 1 Crew-13 launch to the International Space Station.
The mission cleared a key prelaunch step with a static-fire test and will carry Jessica Watkins, Luke Delaney, Joshua Kutryk and Sergey Teteryatnikov.
Watkins is making her second spaceflight, while Delaney, Kutryk and Teteryatnikov are flying to space for the first time.
During the mission, the crew will support stem-cell research tied to heart disease and Parkinson's, study crop production, examine blood-flow abnormalities and test new crew-health diagnostics.
Crew-13 is the latest flight under NASA's Commercial Crew Program, which uses SpaceX missions to sustain human presence and research aboard the ISS.