Missions
SpaceX Crew-13 launches astronauts to ISS in record time
The mission reached the International Space Station in under eight hours, the fastest docking of any American spacecraft.
SpaceX's Crew-13 mission for NASA launched Thursday (Oct. 1) from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, carrying four astronauts to the International Space Station for a six-month stay.
Space.com reports that the Crew Dragon capsule atop a Falcon 9 rocket reached orbit in ten minutes and docked with the ISS in less than eight hours — the fastest any American spacecraft has ever chased down the orbiting laboratory.
Commander Jessica Watkins, a NASA astronaut making her second trip to space, leads a crew that includes NASA's Luke Delaney, Canadian Space Agency astronaut Joshua Kutryk and Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov. For Delaney, Kutryk and Teteryatnikov, Crew-13 is their first spaceflight.
The mission was originally set for Sept. 12 but was delayed by an issue with its Crew Dragon capsule.
Space.com featured an infrared image of the launch, captured in black and white, showing the rocket's engines and billowing smoke at liftoff.
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