Station Prepares to Welcome Crew-13 while Continuing Space Research

Expedition 75 is getting the International Space Station ready for the arrival of NASA's SpaceX Crew-13 mission scheduled to launch and dock to the orbital outpost on Thursday, Oct. 1. In the meantime, space research and lab maintenance rounded out the schedule keeping the astronauts and cosmonauts busy on Wednesday.

Crew-13 commander Jessica Watkins and pilot Luke Delaney, both NASA astronauts, along with mission specialists Johsua Kutryk of CSA (Canadian Space Agency) and Sergey Teteryatnikov of Roscosmos will launch aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft atop the Falcon 9 rocket at 11:10 a.m. EDT on Thursday. NASA+ begins its live launch coverage at 9:20 a.m. from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station's Launch Pad 40 in Florida.

Dragon will dock to the Harmony module 's forward port on the orbital outpost about 7 p.m. the same day. The four Crew-13 members will open the hatch about an hour-and-a-half later, enter Harmony, and join the Expedition 75 crew for welcoming remarks and a safety orientation. Docking coverage begins at 5:20 p.m. on NASA+.

Three NASA astronauts living aboard the station worked together on Wednesday getting ready for the arrival of Crew-13. Station commander Jessica Meir reorganized cargo inside the Harmony's pressurized mating adapter-2, where Dragon will dock, making room for Crew-13's entry into the orbital outpost. Flight engineers Anil Menon and Jack Hathaway staged supplies in Harmony necessary to support the four crewmates immediately after their entry into the station and beginning their mission.

Flight engineer Sophie Adenot of ESA (European Space Agency) focused primarily on science throughout her shift on Wednesday. Adenot started her day in the Columbus laboratory module working out on the European Enhanced Exploration Exercise Device (E4D). She pedaled on the E4D's exercise cycle continuing to test the device's ability to keep crews fit inside spacecraft during long-term missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond. Next, she practiced simulated lunar landing techniques on a computer helping researchers understand how microgravity affects a crew member's cognition when manually piloting a spacecraft.

Roscosmos flight engineer Andrey Fedyaev continued testing the lower body negative pressure suit that reverses space-caused fluid shifts from the head toward the feet. The specialized suit may help crews adjust quicker to Earth's gravity after a long-term mission in weightlessness.

Roscosmos flight engineers Anna Kikina and Pyotr Dubrov took turns wearing arm, wrist, and finger cuffs measuring their blood pressure to understand how microgravity affects a crew member's microcirculatory system. Afterward, Kikina unloaded cargo delivered recently aboard the Progress 96 cargo spacecraft while Dubrov worked on life support and computer maintenance.

Learn more about station activities by following the space station blog , @space_station on X, as well as the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts.

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