SpaceX launches crew to ISS successfully: ‘Thanks for an amazing ride’
Jessica Watkins, the first Black woman to lead a crew to orbit, is making her second trip to the space station Four astronauts rocketed into orbit on Thursday on a space station mission that will stretch until spring, among them a Canadian whose wife will give birth while he is away. SpaceX launched commander Jessica Watkins and her crew for Nasa after a three-week delay to fix the capsule’s…
Four astronauts embarked on a six-month mission to the International Space Station on Thursday, marking SpaceX's successful crew launch. Commander Jessica Watkins, the first Black woman to lead a crew to orbit, joined Nasa's Luke Delaney, Canada's Joshua Kutryk, and Russia's Sergey Teteryatnikov in space. The mission, designated Crew-13, pays homage to Apollo 13, a harrowing 1970 moonshot that ended with the astronauts' safe return.
Watkins, a geologist who previously worked with Nasa’s Mars rover Curiosity, will be making her second trip to the space station following a stay in 2022. Kutryk's wife will give birth to their third child while he is away in late November, and the Canadian Space Agency will provide support for the family. Watkins expressed gratitude for the "amazing ride" after reaching orbit, and the crew will replace four astronauts who have been living at the orbiting laboratory since February.
This marks the 13th crew launched by SpaceX for Nasa, and all four crew members embraced the Crew-13 designation on their mission patch.
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