With Crew-13, Jessica Watkins became the first Black woman to lead a mission into space. A four-person crew rocketed into orbit on Thursday from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida, heading for a six-month expedition on the International Space Station (ISS).
Launch Details
Riding a Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft, the crew departed from Space Launch Complex-40 at 11:10 am EDT (15:10 UTC) Thursday. Nine minutes later, they were in orbit, beginning their approach for docking with the ISS later that evening. The launch was delayed from mid-September due to the need to replace a malfunctioning valve in the Dragon spacecraft’s propulsion system. This repair involved cutting into a propellant line to swap out the faulty component.
Crew Composition
Jessica Watkins, a 38-year-old geologist turned astronaut, leads the four-person crew, making history as the first Black woman to command a spacecraft. She is the only veteran astronaut on this mission—designated Crew-13—having previously spent 170 days in orbit during a long-duration spaceflight in 2022.
The crew also includes:
- Luke Delaney, a Marine Corps veteran and pilot, seated next to Watkins during ascent.
- Joshua Kutryk, a Canadian astronaut and former pilot in the Royal Canadian Air Force.
- Sergey Teteryatnikov, a Russian cosmonaut and naval engineer.
Kutryk and his wife, Heather, are expecting their third child later this year. He expressed his feelings on social media, stating, "Leaving these three (plus one on the way) is the hardest thing I’ve ever done. But that has always been the nature of exploration."
Mission Highlights
Watkins and her crewmates were on course to reach the ISS about eight hours after launch, marking the fastest-ever launch-to-docking transit to the ISS by a US spacecraft.
