New crew makes the quickest US flight to ISS
The SpaceX spacecraft carrying the Crew-13 team docked with the International Space Station in 7 hours and 55 minutes, setting a new record.
On Thursday, NASA announced that a new crew had arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) aboard the fastest US spacecraft, setting a record for US flights to the outpost. The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, carrying the Crew-13 crew, launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida at 11:10 a.m. local time, and docked with the ISS just 7 hours and 55 minutes later.
This marked the quickest US trip to the ISS, surpassing Elon Musk's SpaceX and even surpassing America's own NASA. The quick transit time was attributed to the ISS's location, which allowed the spacecraft to reach it faster than previous missions. The previous record for US flights to the ISS was held by a Russian Soyuz spacecraft, which took over three hours to reach the station in October 2020.
The new crew, composed of Americans Jessica Watkins and Luke Delaney, Canadian Joshua Kutryk, and Russian Sergey Teteryatnikov, was initially scheduled to arrive in mid-September but was delayed due to a leak in the Dragon capsule. This leak forced a change in plans, allowing the new crew to take the spot of Crew-12, which is set to return to Earth on Monday.
Despite the disruption caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, which led to the collapse of many international cooperation agreements, the US and other ISS partners continue to work with Russia on the space station. The ISS has been continuously in operation for 25 years, and NASA has committed to maintaining its operation through 2030.
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