Crew-13 reaches ISS in US record time
The four astronauts took 7 hours and 55 minutes to fly from Florida to the space station.
Four astronauts arrived at the International Space Station on Thursday after the fastest flight by a US spacecraft to the station. SpaceX's Dragon capsule docked after 7 hours and 55 minutes.
The crew consists of NASA astronauts Jessica Watkins and Luke Delaney, Canadian astronaut Joshua Kutryk and Russian cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov. They departed aboard a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
NASA reported that the Dragon capsule docked with the space station's Harmony module at 19:05 local time. The flight from launch to docking took 7 hours and 55 minutes. According to NASA, that is the fastest launch-to-docking flight by a US spacecraft in the history of the ISS.
The short travel time was partly made possible because the space station's orbit was favourably positioned relative to the launch site. A fast flight does not mean that the mission itself will be shorter: the four astronauts will remain in orbit around Earth for about six months to conduct scientific research and maintain the station.
The launch had been scheduled earlier, but was postponed after NASA detected a leak in the Dragon capsule's propulsion system. According to Associated Press, the delay lasted about three weeks. Following repairs and inspections, the mission was able to go ahead on Thursday after all.
The crew is relieving the four astronauts of Crew-12, who had been staying at the station since February. Both teams will work together over the coming days. Crew-12 will then return to Earth, while Crew-13 takes over the station's routine operations.
The record time is primarily an operational achievement, not a new scientific result. The mission is nevertheless part of NASA's commercial crew programme, in which the US space agency uses space companies to provide transport to the ISS. NASA is working with SpaceX, while astronauts from the United States, Canada and Russia work together as one crew.
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NASA confirms the arrival, the crew and the record time. Associated Press independently confirms the fast flight and the earlier delay.
- confirmed Crew-13 docked with the ISS after 7 hours and 55 minutes. — NASA explicitly cites this duration. source
- confirmed The crew consists of Jessica Watkins, Luke Delaney, Joshua Kutryk and Sergey Teteryatnikov. — The composition is listed on the NASA mission page. source
- confirmed The launch had previously been delayed by about three weeks because of a leak in the Dragon capsule. — Associated Press describes the delay and the repair of the fuel system. source
Editor's note
NASA has confirmed the record time and the composition of the crew. The mission is scientifically relevant as a platform for research, but the record flight itself is not a research breakthrough.Sources
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