\u2014 SpaceX (@SpaceX) October 1, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n A Falcon 9 topped with the Crew Dragon Grace and its four occupants carved its way through a billowing whitewash of clouds lifting off\u00a0from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station\u2019s Space Launch Complex 40 at 11:10 a.m.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat an epic ride,\u201d said NASA astronaut and Central Floridian Luke Delaney<\/a> after making it to orbit. \u201cWhat an epic ride it was. Today we proudly continue the streak of humans living and working in orbit.\u201d<\/p>\n Joining Delaney were fellow NASA astronaut and commander Jessica Watkins, Canadian Space Agency astronaut Joshua Kutryk and Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov.<\/p>\n \u201cThey say that courage is grace under pressure and the incredibly team that got us to orbit today truly embodied that,\u201d Watkins said.<\/p>\n Kutryk told his family he missed them, but said it was \u201ctime for Crew-13 to go to work.\u201d<\/p>\n For Delaney, Kutryk and Teteryatnikov, this marks their first spaceflight.<\/p>\n About how he felt when told he was finally in space, Kutryk said,\u00a0\u201cI don\u2019t really believe it yet. It does feel weird.\u201d<\/p>\n Watkins makes her return to space after flying on 2022\u2019s Crew-4 mission, becoming the first NASA astronaut to make a second trip in a Crew Dragon.<\/p>\n Docking confirmed! pic.twitter.com\/Y1xwyaevSL<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 SpaceX (@SpaceX) October 1, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n They flew on what became the fastest rendezvous ever with the station by an American spacecraft, docking at 7:05 p.m. EDT, only seven hours, 55 minutes after launch.<\/p>\n This marked the 57th launch from the Space Coast in 2026, and the third human spaceflight from Florida following February\u2019s Crew-12 and April\u2019s Artemis II mission to the moon.<\/p>\n The crew got ready at the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at Kennedy Space Center. They arrived to KSC last Saturday and ran through a test run this week.<\/p>\n The quartet then made their walkout and hopped into their Teslas for the ride to the pad three hours before liftoff.<\/p>\n On his walk across the crew access tower, Delaney, who was raised in DeBary and attended both DeLand and Deltona High School, was all smiles and gave a raised fist before venturing into the spacecraft. The 47-year-old was chosen as a member of the 2021 class of astronauts.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m so happy to see Luke flying today,\u201d said NASA astronaut Zena Cardman, who flew on Crew-11 and was part of the broadcast team. \u201cLuke was in the class selected after my own class. I\u2019ve gotten a chance to train with him and work with him and he\u2019s just incredibly kind as well as he is technically competent. Just an awesome teammate \u2026 Great person to have by your side as a pilot.<\/p>\n The specialty license plate on their Teslas read \u201cLucky 13.\u201d<\/p>\n Watkins addressed the superstition around the number of their mission, and noted Crew-13\u2019s patch actually embraces it, paying deference to Apollo 13.<\/p>\n \u201cWe really wanted to honor their legacy, honor their resilience and their grit, and bring a little bit of that with us on our crew,\u201d she said. \u201cWe stand on the shoulders of giants, and we wouldn\u2019t be here without the incredible history of folks who have come through this place to launch into space and push the bounds of what humans are capable of.\u201d<\/p>\n After reaching orbit, the crew revealed their zero-G indicator, an item used to let the astronauts know they are weightless, was a golden dragon named Lucky, which Watkins said was hand-crocheted by her sister-in-law.<\/p>\n \u201cAround Lucky\u2019s neck is a four-leaf clover, a nod to the steadfast, graceful team that has taken care of the ISS and led the way to low Earth orbit for the past 26 years,\u201d she said. \u201cWe figured it wouldn\u2019t hurt to bring a little of our own luck, just in case. But clearly, we don\u2019t need it. From my vantage point, Crew-13 consists of four of the luckiest humans.\u201d<\/p>\n Their arrival means that Crew-12 can get ready to depart after having been on board the station for 7 1\/2 months.<\/p>\n Crew-13\u2019s stay on board is slated to be about six months as NASA tries to keep up a steady cadence of crewed missions to the station before the end of its planned lifespan after 2030.<\/p>\n SpaceX was recently awarded task orders for missions through Crew-17, but NASA also said it was reinvesting its efforts to get fellow commercial crew provider Boeing\u2019s Starliner to a usable state<\/a>.<\/p>\n A uncrewed version of Starliner is slated to fly and dock with the space station as early as December as Boeing and NASA work to fix major issues seen during its lone crewed flight in 2024. A first rotational crewed mission for Starliner would not come until 2028, but NASA has options to order up to five crewed missions if needed.<\/p>\n \u201cThe International Space Station is obviously still critical,\u201d said NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman ahead of the launch. \u201cThe research that this crew is about to undertake \u2026 a lot of it relates to long-duration human spaceflight missions.\u201d<\/p>\n He also lauded the orbiting laboratory as a technical proving ground.<\/p>\n \u201cThe spacesuits that the Artemis IV crew will wear on the lunar surface, we\u2019re going to be doing demonstrations with them on the International Space Station in 2027 and early 2028,\u201d he said. \u201cA good opportunity to get comfortable with the suit, maybe roll in some last-minute improvements before people are walking on the moon again.\u201d<\/p>\n The launch is one of two SpaceX plans<\/a> on Thursday from Florida.<\/p>\n Its powerhouse Falcon Heavy is slated to launch at 11:53 p.m. from Kennedy Space Center\u2019s Launch Pad 39-A on the NROL-97 mission with a classified payload for the\u00a0National Reconnaissance Office.<\/p>\n Falcon 9 lands at LZ-40! pic.twitter.com\/BSygjZ47oZ<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Canadian](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/55561451497_956a168fe2_o.jpg\")
Canadian Space Agency astronaut Joshua Kutryk, left, NASA astronauts Luke Delaney and Jessica Watkins, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov, wearing prepare to depart the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building for Space Launch Complex 40 on Cape Canaveral Space Force Station to board the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft for the Crew-13 mission launch, Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026, at NASA\u2019s Kennedy Space Center (Joel Kowsky\/NASA)<\/p>\n