NASA and SpaceX are targeting 11:10 a.m. EDT on Thursday, Oct. 1, as the earliest opportunity to launch the Crew-13 mission to the International Space Station.
In the days before liftoff, teams will complete final preparations and readiness reviews to confirm that the astronauts, the space station, SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft, and the Falcon 9 rocket are ready for flight. The mission is scheduled to launch from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
Less Than Nine Hours to the Space Station
If Crew-13 launches on Oct. 1, Dragon is expected to reach the International Space Station less than nine hours later, with docking planned for about 8 p.m. at the forward-facing port of the Harmony module.
After launch, Falcon 9 will carry Dragon into orbit. The spacecraft will then maneuver to match the station’s path before docking, a carefully controlled process in which Dragon lines up with a designated port and attaches securely.
Harmony is one of the station’s connecting modules and provides docking locations for visiting spacecraft.
Meet the Crew-13 Astronauts
NASA astronaut Jessica Watkins will serve as spacecraft commander, with NASA astronaut Luke Delaney as pilot. CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Joshua Kutryk and Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov will serve as mission specialists.
After arriving at the station, the four astronauts will become members of Expedition 75. Space station expeditions are long duration missions during which crews conduct scientific research, maintain the orbiting laboratory, and support technology demonstrations and other operations.
Crew-13 is currently in quarantine at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, a standard preflight precaution designed to reduce the risk of illness before launch. The crew is scheduled to travel to NASA Kennedy on Saturday, Sept. 26, as final preparations continue for the planned Oct. 1 liftoff.
