Four-member crew will head to the International Space Station for a long-duration science mission
NASA and SpaceX are targeting Thursday, Oct. 1, for the launch of Crew-13 to the International Space Station.
Liftoff targeted for 11:10 a.m. EDT
The mission is scheduled to lift off at 11:10 a.m. EDT from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft.
The crew includes NASA astronauts Jessica Watkins and Luke Delaney, Canadian Space Agency astronaut Joshua Kutryk and Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov.
NASA says docking with the International Space Station is planned for Thursday evening, though timing can change based on weather and launch-day operations.
Research will include medicine and food production
During the long-duration mission, the crew will conduct scientific experiments intended to support future exploration and improve life on Earth.
NASA says research will include studies involving heart disease and Parkinson’s disease using human stem-cell-derived tissue, crop production for long-duration missions, blood-flow changes in space and new diagnostic equipment for monitoring astronaut health.
13th SpaceX crew-rotation mission
Crew-13 will be the 13th operational crew-rotation mission flown by SpaceX under NASA’s Commercial Crew Program and the 14th crewed Dragon flight in the program when the Demo-2 test flight is included.
A backup launch opportunity is available Friday, Oct. 2.
Source: NASA and SpaceX.
