SpaceX launched four astronauts for NASA on a six-month mission to the International Space Station, with the crew expected to reach the orbiting laboratory after an approximately eight-hour transit, Associated Press reported.
Commander Jessica Watkins led the Crew-13 mission, joined by NASA’s Luke Delaney, Canada’s Joshua Kutryk and Russia’s Sergey Teteryatnikov. They will replace four astronauts who have been living aboard the station since February.
The launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station followed a three-week delay to repair the capsule’s leaking fuel system. Watkins became the first Black woman to lead a crew to orbit. A geologist who previously worked with NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover, she is making her second trip to the space station after a lengthy stay in 2022.
The other three crew members are making their first journeys into space. Delaney is a retired Marine, Kutryk is a colonel in the Royal Canadian Air Force, and Teteryatnikov is a former submariner.
The crew’s mission patch pays tribute to Apollo 13, the 1970 lunar mission whose astronauts safely returned to Earth after an emergency. This was SpaceX’s 13th crewed launch for NASA, excluding its 2020 test flight.
Kutryk’s wife, Heather, is due to give birth to their third child in late November. NASA manager Dana Weigel said the agency would work to keep him connected with his family during the mission. Kutryk will become the fourth man to become a father while orbiting Earth, according to the Associated Press report.
