CAPE CANAVERAL SPACE FORCE STATION — On Thursday evening, NASA announced SpaceX’s Crew-13 mission members who will be spending a number of months on the International Space Station.
What You Need To Know
Crew-13’s Luke Delaney is from Volusia County
Cmdr. Jessica Watkins is the only crew member who has been to space before
The launch is no earlier than mid-September of this year
NASA’s Dr. Jessica Watkins will be the commander, while Luke Delaney, a Volusia County native, will be the pilot.
Canadian Space Agency’s astronaut Joshua Kutryk and Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov will be mission specialists.
The launch is no earlier than mid-September of this year thanks to SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket and its Dragon spacecraft. When the astronauts enter the floating laboratory, they will become members of Expedition 75.
An expedition means the current crew of the International Space Station.
The mission will mark the 13th crew rotation with SpaceX to the space station, which is a part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. The program allows NASA to partner with private space companies to transport astronauts to and from the International Space Station.
Originally, the launch was scheduled for November, but NASA wanted to make it earlier to help increase the frequency of the U.S. crew rotation.
But it will not be a nice vacation for them.
“The crew will conduct scientific investigations and technology demonstrations to help prepare humans for future exploration missions to the Moon and Mars, and benefit people on Earth,” stated NASA about what the mission will entail.
NASA did not state how long they will be on board.
Meeting the crew
For Watkins, this will be her second time on board the space station. The first time was during NASA’s Crew-4 mission in 2022, where she spent 170 days in space.
She will also have the distinction of being the first NASA astronaut to be launched aboard SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft two times.
She was selected as a NASA astronaut in 2017, “and earned an undergraduate degree in geological and environmental sciences from Stanford University, as well as a doctorate in geology from the University of California, Los Angeles,” explained NASA in its press release.
The rest of her crew will be first timers being in space.
Delany, who considers Debary, Fla., his hometown, has a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of North Florida and a master’s degree in aerospace engineering from Naval Postgraduate School.
“The Florida native is a distinguished naval aviator who participated in exercises throughout the Asia Pacific region and conducted missions in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. As a test pilot, Delaney evaluated developmental aircraft systems and served as a test pilot instructor,” NASA stated.
He was tapped to be a NASA astronaut in 2021.
Kutryk, who was picked to be a Canadian Space Agency astronaut in 2017, was a CF-18 fighter pilot and flew a number of missions.
He has also worked as an experimental and operational test pilot. In addition, he has a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering.
For Roscosmos cosmonaut Teteryatnikov, he was an engineer specializing in ship power plant operations for undersea vessels and focused on engine room operations.