Crew-13 reached the International Space Station (ISS) on October 1, 2026, after Dragon made contact and soft capture 7 hours 55 minutes after launch. Mission commentary described the transit as the fastest journey to the station by a U.S. spacecraft.
NASA and SpaceX launched the crew aboard Dragon Grace on a Falcon 9 from Cape Canaveral, Florida. NeoTeo covered the liftoff in its earlier report on the Crew-13 launch.
From contact to hard capture
Dragon’s final approach was autonomous. Contact and soft capture marked the initial connection with the station; hard capture was the later step that secured the spacecraft in place.
During hard capture, 12 hooks engaged in two sets of six. That securing step followed soft capture, so the two terms describe distinct parts of the docking sequence.
Crew-13’s planned work aboard the station
The reported four-person crew comprised commander Jessica Watkins, pilot Luke Delaney, Canadian mission specialist Joshua Kutryk and Russian cosmonaut Serguéi Teteriátnikov. NASA’s October 2 post described the flight as nearly eight hours and said the crew would spend the coming months conducting science and technology experiments to benefit life on Earth and in space.
