Key facts
- Four astronauts launched to the ISS on Thursday.
- Commander Jessica Watkins is the first Black woman to lead a crew to orbit.
- The mission will last six months.
- The flight was delayed by three weeks due to a fuel system issue.
- This was SpaceX's 13th crewed launch for Nasa.
Four astronauts successfully launched into orbit on Thursday for a mission to the International Space Station that is expected to last until spring. The flight, commanded by Nasa's Jessica Watkins, was delayed by three weeks to address a leaking fuel system in the capsule. Despite initial cloud cover concerns, the launch proceeded smoothly from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
Watkins, a geologist who previously worked with Nasa's Mars rover Curiosity, is making her second trip to the space station and is the first Black woman to lead a crew to orbit. The mission, designated Crew-13, pays homage to the Apollo 13 mission. The crew's transit to the ISS was expected to be a swift eight hours.
Joining Watkins as spaceflight newcomers are Nasa's Luke Delaney, a retired marine; Canada's Joshua Kutryk, a colonel in the Royal Canadian Air Force; and Russia's Sergey Teteryatnikov, a former submariner. They will replace four astronauts who have been aboard the orbiting laboratory since February. Kutryk is set to become a father for the third time while in orbit, with his wife due to give birth in late November. Nasa has a history of facilitating communication between astronauts and their families during significant life events.