Jessica Watkins to command Crew-13 to ISS October 1, 2026
Technology
NASA's Jessica Watkins is stepping up as commander for the SpaceX Crew-13 mission to the International Space Station, launching October 1, 2026.
This marks her first time leading a crew and her second trip to space.
She previously spent 170 days on the ISS in 2022.
Crew-13 delayed by Dragon propulsion issue
Watkins, who has a Ph.D. in geology from UCLA and experience working on NASA's Mars Science Laboratory, will lead a diverse team: NASA astronaut Luke Delaney, Canadian astronaut Joshua Kutryk, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov.
The launch was pushed from September after a technical hiccup with Dragon's propulsion system but is now set for early October.
The crew will spend six months running science experiments and keeping ISS operations smooth.