NASA and SpaceX are maintaining the schedule for the Crew-13 mission, which will carry four astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) in mid-September. The launch is scheduled to take place starting September 12, using Launch Complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, USA.
The crew will consist of Jessica Watkins, commander, and Luke Delaney, pilot, both belonging to NASA. They will be accompanied by Josh Kutryk, mission specialist from the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), and Sergey Teteryatnikov, cosmonaut from the Russian space agency Roscosmos.
The crew members will travel aboard SpaceX's Dragon Grace capsule, which will execute its second crewed mission. They are expected to arrive at the space station the day after launch, beginning a stay of about seven months, as part of ISS expeditions 75 and 76.
The mission will include maintenance, spacewalks, and scientific research
Jessica Watkins detailed that Crew-13 will have a very busy schedule on the station. She mentioned that there will be a lot of maintenance, both internal and external, in addition to extravehicular activities (spacewalks), capture and storage operations of visiting vehicles, and various scientific and outreach initiatives.
During the mission, the astronauts will conduct research focused on combating diseases such as Parkinson's and heart disease, investigating tissues obtained from human stem cells. Other experiments include studies on food production for long space missions and analyses of changes in blood flow observed in astronauts after prolonged periods in space.
Josh Kutryk, the Canadian astronaut, will be the fourth Canadian member on a permanent ISS crew and discussed the inherent complexity of space missions of this magnitude. He also shared a personal challenge: his third child is due to be born while he is in orbit, something that, according to him, has happened to other astronauts, and his family is prepared for this atypical situation.
Before the launch, the four astronauts will conduct a rehearsal in the Dragon Grace capsule itself. This week, they will use the new SpaceX Rev. 3 spacesuits for the first time, which have been enhanced to facilitate the donning and removal of the equipment, in addition to containing adjustments to compensate for bodily changes during long stays in space. This training aims to familiarize the crew with the spacecraft and its procedures.
An innovation of the mission is the use of Tesla Cybertruck vehicles to remove the crew from the launch area in emergency situations before takeoff. NASA confirmed that these vehicles have undergone specific tests to ensure that the astronauts can operate them while wearing space gloves and enter or exit them dressed in the bulky flight suits, aiming to simplify safety protocols.
The rocket has participated in a previous mission
NASA announced that the final integration of the Dragon capsule has been completed and preparations are proceeding as planned. The Falcon 9 rocket, responsible for launching Crew-13, was already used in the Crew-12 mission and will undergo final maintenance phases in the coming weeks. Program officials have not identified any significant issues that could affect the mission schedule.
