SpaceX Crew-13 sets US record for fastest trip to ISS
SpaceX's Crew-13 reached the International Space Station in just 7 hours and 55 minutes — the fastest launch-to-docking flight ever by an American crewed spacecraft. The mission is commanded by NASA's Jessica Watkins, the first Black woman to lead a crew into orbit.
The mission lifted off on October 1 from Cape Canaveral aboard a Falcon 9, after a three-week delay to repair a leaking fuel system on the Dragon capsule Grace. Favourable orbital alignment allowed an unusually fast rendezvous, smashing the previous crewed US record of 14 hours and 43 minutes set in 2025.
Commander Jessica Watkins, a geologist who earlier worked on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover, is on her second spaceflight after a long stay in 2022. She leads NASA pilot Luke Delaney, Canadian astronaut Joshua Kutryk and Russian cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov — the three are all first-time spaceflyers.
The four will spend about six months aboard the station with the Expedition 75 crew, conducting research and maintenance. The flight was the 13th operational crew mission SpaceX has flown for NASA under its commercial crew programme.
