SpaceX’s Crew-13 crew arrives at the International Space Station in record time

The four astronauts of the Crew-13 mission arrived at the International Space Station less than eight hours after launch, on the fastest journey ever by a U.S. spacecraft to the station in the ISS’s nearly 26-year history, as USA Today reports, based on NASA’s official announcements.

The mission launched on Thursday, October 1, at 11:10 a.m. U.S. Eastern Time, from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The astronauts travelled in SpaceX’s Dragon capsule, mounted on a Falcon 9 rocket, and docked autonomously at the forward port of the station’s Harmony module at around 7:00 p.m. — less than eight hours after departure. After the standard leak and pressurisation checks, the hatches opened at 9:19 p.m., allowing the newcomers to enter the ISS, NASA announced in its latest post.

The crew consists of NASA astronauts Jessica Watkins and Luke Delaney, Joshua Kutryk of the Canadian Space Agency and Russian cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov. Of the four, only Watkins had previously been in space, having reached the ISS in 2022 as part of the Crew-4 mission.

The launch marked the first time astronauts had set off on a spaceflight from the U.S. since the historic Artemis II mission to the Moon in April, and the first time in three months that Americans had reached space — after a NASA astronaut launched in July to the ISS with two Russians from Kazakhstan. For several months, the crew will carry out scientific experiments designed for microgravity and maintain station operations, with spacewalks not ruled out.

“Jessica, Luke, Joshua and Sergey will carry forward the important work aboard the International Space Station, helping us build the experience and skills needed for ambitious missions to the Moon and beyond,” NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said, congratulating the crew and the NASA and SpaceX teams that made the launch possible. The mission is part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, which tasks Elon Musk’s SpaceX with carrying crews to the ISS.