Central Florida’s Luke Delaney is headed to space. The astronaut who was raised in Volusia County received his first spaceflight assignment Thursday from NASA to be part of this September’s Crew-13 mission to the International Space Station.
Delaney was part of the 2021 class of astronaut candidates named “The Flies,” and is set to launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station for about a six-month stay on board. Serving as pilot, Delaney will be flying up in a SpaceX Crew Dragon to relieve the Crew-12 team that has been on board since March.
His crewmates will be NASA astronaut and commander Jessica Watkins, making her second spaceflight, Canadian Space Agency astronaut Joshua Kutryk and Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov. Delaney, Kutryk and Teteryatnikov are all rookies.
The quartet are targeting liftoff no earlier than mid-September, which is an accelerated launch date from what NASA had been planning to be November. They will become part of Expedition 75 on board the station, which has been continuously crewed since November 2000. Watkins was part of the 2022 Crew-4 mission and will become the first NASA astronaut to fly twice on a Crew Dragon.
Delaney, 47, who was born in Miami but raised in DeBary and attended both DeLand and Deltona High School in Volusia. He grew up watching space shuttle launches.
“At Enterprise Elementary where I went, we definitely came out for a few launches,” he told the Sentinel in 2024. “They can see it from the playground. … Just then you’re wondering how humans are going to space. How’s this even possible? And now I’m thinking, not a matter of how, not even a matter of when, but just where? Where will I go and what will I be able to do to help forward space exploration for humanity.”
He was one of 10 NASA astronaut candidates along with two international candidates from the United Arab Emirates chosen as members of the 23rd astronaut group in December 2021 from among 12,000 applicants.
Only three others from his class have already been to space including two currently in orbit. A fourth is set to launch on a Soyuz in July.
Theirs was the first NASA class to require its candidates to have at least a master’s degree in a STEM-oriented field.
Delaney, who’s retired from the U.S. Marine Corps, holds a degree in mechanical engineering from the University of North Florida and a master’s degree in aerospace engineering from the Naval Postgraduate School.
While in service, Delaney flew combat missions in the Asia Pacific region and in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. He also flew as a test pilot to evaluate weapon testing systems and served as a test pilot instructor.
Since officially becoming a NASA astronaut, he has worked as a research pilot at NASA’s Langley Research Center supporting airborne science missions. He was also a support astronaut for the Crew-9 mission in 2024 assisting with its crew at KSC on the day of launch.
NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov with SpaceX support crew and NASA astronaut Volusia County native Luke Delaney make their way to the top of the crew access arm to climb aboard the Crew Dragon Freedom atop a Falcon 9 rocket set to launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 ahead of the Crew-9 launch marking the debut human spaceflight for the launch pad on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. (NASA)
Delaney will join a short list of astronauts who have close ties to Central Florida.
Former chief of the Astronaut Office Joe Acabá who had two spaceflight missions, once taught science and math at Melbourne High School in Brevard County as well as Dunnellon Middle School in Marion County.
Central Florida’s most famous astronaut was John Young, who flew on two Gemini missions, was a moonwalker on Apollo 16 and commanded the first space shuttle mission.
He went to Princeton Elementary school in College Park and then what was Orlando High School, now known as Howard Middle School. Other astronauts with Central Florida ties include UCF grads Nicole Stott and Fernando Caldeiro.
Delaney credits a math teacher at DeLand High for sparking his interest in STEM.
“She just was super awesome in terms of how she presented material to make it so that it was easy for someone to grasp,” he said. “When you’re looking to learn math, I think in high school, the challenge is the tangible applications to it. And I just remember her turning me on to things like fractals and things that occur in nature and how the math applies.”
At astronaut graduation, Delaney’s astronaut classmate Deniz Burnham joked she had prepared a song to explain “how great you are. But rest easy, today I’m only going to talk about what makes you known as ‘Mr. Reliable.’ He puts 100% effort into everything he does and always with a positive attitude. He’s an awesome officemate and he’s an awesome teammate and a really great friend.”
Delaney later said he’s happy with his nickname.
“I think to always be there for the team and whatever we need. We support each other in all of our endeavors,” he said. “I think that’s really important as you’re moving forward into that kind of deep space exploration.”