On Thursday, a new crew arrived at the International Space Station, after successfully docking its capsule, on a mission that will take about six months, according to what NASA announced. The crew includes Americans Jessica Watkins and Luke Delaney, Canadian Joshua Kutric, and Russian Sergei Tetryatnikov. The mission replaces the team that includes Frenchwoman Sophie Adino, which is scheduled to return to Earth, starting Monday.
Published on: 02/10/2026 - 08:45 Last updated: 02/10/2026 - 09:28
NASA announced that a capsule containing a new crew of four astronauts docked with the International Space Station on Thursday for a mission lasting approximately six months.
The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, carrying the Crew-13 mission, launched at 11:10 am local time (15:10 GMT) from Cape Canaveral Base in Florida.
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After seven hours and 55 minutes, the Dragon capsule, which the astronauts also gave the name Grace, docked with an outlet on the station, setting a record for the fastest flight by an American spacecraft to reach the station.
A ground control official announced that the SpaceX Dragon missile was on the final trajectory, and said, “The tight docking has been completed,” thus announcing the completion of the docking process.
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The next step was the transfer of the new crew, consisting of Americans Jessica Watkins, Luke Delaney, Canadian Joshua Kutric, and Russian Sergei Tetryatnikov, to the space station via a pressurized corridor.
“We're excited to be here,” Watkins told his colleagues on the ground from inside the station. “This is truly a special place.” He added in a live broadcast to NASA: “We are very excited to be here, it is truly a special place... It is amazing and kind of ironic to think that the trip to get here was short, because the trip to get here was long.”
For his part, Canadian Kotric said that representing his country in space gives him a “really great feeling,” noting that he is “looking forward to a successful mission after sleeping a little, as this is what I will do now.”
The end of the French Adino mission and its mission
The Crew-13 crew is replaced by Americans Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, Frenchwoman Sophie Adino, and Russian Andrei Fedeev. The Crew-12 mission is scheduled to return to Earth starting Monday, but the timetable depends on weather conditions.
Read also: For the third time... Frenchwoman Sophie Adno goes into space at the head of an all-female crew
The new station crew was scheduled to arrive in mid-September, but the launch was postponed due to a leak on board the Dragon spacecraft.
For your information, the International Space Station, which has been continuously inhabited for the past quarter century, will exit its orbit in 2030 and fall into an ocean.
France 24/AFP
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