SpaceX Crew-13 reaches ISS in under eight hours, a US record, NASA officials say

SpaceX's Crew-13 has docked at the International Space Station (ISS) aboard the Dragon capsule "Grace". The four-person crew reached the station in less than eight hours. Deutsche Welle puts the flight time at 7 hours and 55 minutes. Le Monde describes it as under eight hours.

According to NASA officials cited by both outlets, it was the fastest trip by a US spacecraft to the ISS. The crew is expected to stay on the station for about six months.

Launch and crew

According to Deutsche Welle, Crew-13 launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 11:10 local time (15:10 GMT). The capsule docked on Thursday, the outlet reported. The reports reviewed by Vocemundi do not give the exact docking time in UTC.

Deutsche Welle names the crew as Americans Jessica Watkins and Luke Delaney, Canadian Joshua Kutryk and Russian Sergey Teteryatnikov. According to the outlet, Watkins is the commander and became the first Black woman to lead a crew to orbit. The reports do not say who established this distinction.

Deutsche Welle reported that the crew had been set to arrive at the station in mid-September, but its flight was delayed by a leak aboard the Dragon. The reports do not describe the nature of the leak or how it was resolved.

Crew rotation

According to Deutsche Welle, Crew-13 is replacing Crew-12, which is set to return to Earth on Monday. Le Monde reports that French astronaut Sophie Adenot is to return to Earth. The reports do not state whether she is part of Crew-12.

The record in context

According to Deutsche Welle, the record covers any American entity, including NASA, not only SpaceX. The previous crew to launch from the United States took more than 30 hours to reach the station, the outlet reported. It said the overall record belongs to a Russian Soyuz spacecraft, which reached the ISS in just over three hours in October 2020.

Deutsche Welle reported that travel time depends mainly on the distance between the station and the spacecraft at launch. The station's position at the time of this launch allowed a faster trip, according to the outlet.

The ISS has been in continuous use for 25 years, according to Deutsche Welle. NASA has committed to operating it through 2030. The outlet noted that the United States and other partners continue to work with Russia on the station, despite the collapse of many cooperation agreements after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

What each side says

NASA officials say the Crew-13 flight set a record for the fastest trip by a US spacecraft to the ISS. Both Deutsche Welle and Le Monde attribute this to unnamed officials. The reports do not include a direct quotation or an official NASA statement on the record.

Analysis

According to Deutsche Welle, the shorter flight time was made possible mainly by the station's position at launch, rather than by the spacecraft alone. Whether similar times become routine may depend on future launch timing and orbital geometry. The record claim rests on NASA's account: both outlets attribute it to NASA officials, none of whom are named. The mission also reflects continued cooperation with Russia on the ISS, with a Russian crew member aboard a US vehicle, even as wider ties remain strained. With NASA committed to the station through 2030, rotations like this one may offer an indication of how partners manage the station's remaining years.

Produced by the Vocemundi newsroom with AI assistance.