What You Need to Know About NASA’s SpaceX Crew-13 Mission

Four astronauts, including two NASA astronauts and two representatives from Roscosmos and the Canadian Space Agency, are scheduled to launch aboard SpaceX's Crew-13 mission to the International Space Station. The mission, set to launch no earlier than October 1, aims to conduct research, technology demonstrations, and maintenance tasks aboard the orbiting laboratory.

NASA astronauts Jessica Watkins and Luke Delaney, along with CSA astronaut Joshua Kutryk and Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov, will make up the crew. Watkins and Delaney will serve as the spacecraft commander and pilot, respectively. This will be Watkins' second mission to the space station, following her 170-day stay aboard the ISS during Expedition 67/68 in 2022. Watkins, a geologist by training, previously worked on the Curiosity rover science team at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

The crew will focus on advancing research and technology for future Moon and Mars missions, as well as improving life on Earth. They will study human stem-cell derived tissues to improve medicine, disease modeling, and pharmaceutical testing. Additionally, they will explore crop production for longer-duration spaceflight missions, investigate blood flow abnormalities in space, and test new diagnostic medical equipment for monitoring crew health.

The launch is the 13th crew rotation mission with SpaceX for NASA's Commercial Crew Office. Ground teams are working on Dragon preflight milestones and preparing a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket booster for its third flight. Once all systems are certified, the integrated spacecraft and rocket will undergo a dry dress rehearsal and a static fire test before launch. The crew will fly aboard the Dragon spacecraft named Grace, which previously supported the private astronaut mission Axiom Mission 4.