Crew‑13 Reaches ISS in Record Sub‑Eight‑Hour Flight

Overview

• The four‑person Crew‑13 launched from Cape Canaveral on Thursday and docked to the ISS’s Harmony module 7 hours and 55 minutes later, the fastest U.S. launch‑to‑docking time on record.
• The team is commanded by NASA astronaut Jessica Watkins and includes NASA’s Luke Delaney, Canadian Joshua Kutryk, and Russian Sergej Teterjatnikow.
• Managers delayed the launch from mid‑September by about three weeks to find and repair a leak in the Dragon spacecraft’s propulsion system and to wait for acceptable weather at the Florida launch site.
• Crew‑13 will remain on the station for roughly six months to relieve Crew‑12, whose members will complete a multi‑day handover and are set to return to Earth no earlier than next week pending weather.
• The unusually fast transit resulted from the station’s position at launch rather than a change in vehicle capability, and the mission underscores SpaceX’s growing role in routine NASA crew rotations while maintaining multinational operations on the ISS.