America's farms have largely escaped the president's aggressive immigration crackdown. But as ICE sweeps continue across the nation, farmers are uneasy because many still can't find enough workers.

(Image credit: Natalie Behring/Getty Images)

The Trump administration says easing these standards will make cars more affordable. Critics say it's not so simple and could be costly for the environment.

(Image credit: Apu Gomes)

Starship is key to SpaceX's commercial success and NASA's plans to land humans on the moon. This is the 14th flight of the uncrewed Starship, but the first time it reached orbit.

(Image credit: Ronaldo Schemidt)

What we know — and still don't — about the suspected terror plot near a U.K. air base. Trump rejects Iran's offer to pause fighting. And CNN prepares for new owners with ties to Trump.

(Image credit: Ben Stansall)

The four astronauts of NASA’s Artemis II mission will participate in an event hosted by industry and community partners at the University of Houston to discuss their mission around the Moon aboard the Orion spacecraft. It will be the first event in Houston for the public following their lunar mission earlier this year and marks the conclusion of their post-flight campaign.

Astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch of NASA and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen will share highlights from their mission at 7 p.m. CDT Wednesday, Sept. 30, during the free, public event at University of Houston’s Fertitta Center. Additionally, the National Aeronautic Association will recognize the crew for surpassing the record for human spaceflight’s farthest distance traveled, previously set by the Apollo 13 mission in 1970.

Media are invited to attend a brief question and answer session with the Artemis II crew at 5:45 p.m. prior to the public presentation. Media interested in attending must RSVP no later than 12 p.m. on Sept. 30 to Kenna Pell at: kenna.m.pell@nasa.gov.  

NASA’s historic Artemis II mission launched April 1 and splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on April 10. The crew members were the first astronauts to launch on the agency’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket, flying aboard NASA’s Orion spacecraft. During their record-setting mission, the astronauts traveled 252,756 miles from Earth, farther than any humans have traveled before.

As part of the Golden Age of innovation and exploration, NASA will send Artemis astronauts on increasingly difficult missions to explore more of the Moon for scientific discovery, economic benefits, establish an enduring human presence on the lunar surface, and to build on our foundation for the first crewed missions to Mars.

Learn more about the Artemis program at:

                                         https://www.nasa.gov/artemis
                                                                -end-
 

Kenna Pell
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
kenna.m.pell@nasa.gov

Four crew members are set to launch to the International Space Station as part of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-13 mission to perform research, technology demonstrations, and maintenance aboard the orbiting laboratory.

NASA astronauts Jessica Watkins and Luke Delaney will support the mission as spacecraft commander and pilot, respectively, joined by CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Joshua Kutryk and Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov as mission specialists. Crew-13 will lift off no earlier than 11:10 a.m. EDT, Thursday, Oct. 1, from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida and join the space station’s Expedition 75 crew. Throughout its long‑duration mission, the crew will conduct science experiments to advance research and technology for future Moon and Mars missions and improve life on Earth.

“During the mission, the crew will help researchers treat heart disease and Parkinson’s disease by studying human stem-cell derived tissues that can help improve medicine, disease modeling, and pharmaceutical testing,” said Dana Weigel, manager of NASA’s Low Earth Orbit Program at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. “They also will explore crop production, which is important for longer-duration spaceflight missions,  help us better understand blood flow abnormalities that we see in space, and test new diagnostic medical equipment for monitoring crew health.”

The flight is the 13th crew rotation mission with SpaceX to the space station as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Office.

Support teams continue to progress through Dragon preflight milestones for Crew-13 and are preparing a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket booster for its third flight. Up in orbit, NASA’s SpaceX Crew-12 is preparing to return to Earth after a brief handover once Crew-13 arrives.

After all rocket and spacecraft system checkouts are complete and all components are certified, teams will mate Dragon to Falcon 9 in SpaceX’s hangar at the launch site. The integrated spacecraft and rocket will then roll to the pad, where it will be raised vertically for a dry dress rehearsal with the crew and an integrated static fire test before launch.

The quartet will fly aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft named Grace. This spacecraft previously flew in summer 2025 in support of private astronaut mission Axiom Mission 4.

Meet Crew-13

Commander Jessica Watkins

This will be the second flight to the space station for Watkins, who was selected as a NASA astronaut in 2017. She grew up in Lafayette, Colorado, and earned an undergraduate degree in geological and environmental sciences from Stanford University, as well as a doctorate in geology from the University of California, Los Angeles. As a geologist, Watkins studied the Martian surface and was a member of the Curiosity rover science team at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. She first launched to the space station aboard NASA’s SpaceX Crew-4 mission, spending a total of 170 days in space across Expeditions 67/68 in 2022. She will be the first NASA astronaut to launch twice aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft. Follow Jessica on X and Instagram.

Pilot Luke Delaney

Selected as a NASA astronaut in 2021, Delaney earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering at the University of North Florida and a master’s degree in aerospace engineering at the Naval Postgraduate School. The Florida native is a distinguished naval aviator who participated in exercises throughout the Asia-Pacific region and flew missions in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. As a test pilot, Delaney evaluated developmental aircraft systems and served as a test pilot instructor. He also worked as a research pilot at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, where he supported airborne science missions. This is Delaney’s first spaceflight.

Mission Specialist Joshua Kutryk

The Crew-13 mission also is the first spaceflight for Kutryk. Prior to his selection as a CSA astronaut in 2017, he served as a CF-18 fighter pilot, flying missions in support of Canada’s NATO, U.N., and North American Aerospace Defense Command commitments. A native of Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta, Kutryk worked as an experimental and operational test pilot at the Aerospace Engineering Test Establishment in Cold Lake, Alberta. Kutryk received a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the Royal Military College of Canada in Kingston, Ontario, and is a distinguished graduate of the United States Air Force Test Pilot school in Edwards, California. He has master’s degrees in space studies, flight test engineering, and defense studies. Follow Josh on X and Instagram.

Mission Specialist Sergey Teteryatnikov

This mission will be Teteryatnikov’s first trip to the orbiting laboratory. He graduated from the Naval Academy, St. Petersburg, Russia, in 2011 as an engineer specializing in ship power plant operations. Before his selection as a test cosmonaut, Teteryatnikov served in various naval engineering roles, including undersea vessels and specialized engine room operations. He was selected for the Gagarin Research and Test Cosmonaut Training Center Cosmonaut Corps in 2021 and has served as a test cosmonaut since 2023.

Mission Overview

Following liftoff, Falcon 9 will accelerate Dragon to approximately 17,500 mph. Once in orbit, the crew, along with NASA and SpaceX mission control, will monitor a series of maneuvers guiding Dragon to the forward-facing port of the station’s Harmony module. The spacecraft is designed to dock autonomously, but the crew can take manual control if necessary.

After docking, Crew-13 will be welcomed aboard the station by the seven-member Expedition 75 crew, including NASA astronauts Jessica Meir, Anil Menon, and Jack Hathaway, ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Sophie Adenot, and Roscosmos cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov, Andrey Fedyaev, and Anna Kikina. After a short handover period, the crew will bid farewell to the Dragon spacecraft carrying NASA’s SpaceX Crew-12 crew of Meir, Hathaway, Adenot, and Fedyaev.

While aboard the orbiting laboratory, Crew-13 will welcome NASA’s SpaceX’s 35th commercial resupply mission in the fall for station resupply and the delivery of International Space Station Roll-Out Solar Arrays. The crew also will welcome NASA’s Northrop Grumman Commercial Resupply Services-25 mission later this year.

For more than 25 years, people have lived and worked continuously aboard the International Space Station, advancing scientific knowledge and making research breakthroughs not possible on Earth. The space station helps NASA understand and overcome the challenges of human spaceflight, expand commercial opportunities in low Earth orbit, and build on the foundation for long-duration missions to the Moon, as part of the Artemis program, and to Mars.

Learn more about the space station, its research, and crew, at:

https://www.nasa.gov/station

This nighttime view of the United States, dotted with city lights looking toward New York City (center), was taken at approximately 3:40 a.m. local time on Sept. 8, 2026, from the International Space Station as it orbited 259 miles above Earth.

Image credit: NASA/Jessica Meir

The NASA ORBIT (Opportunities in Research, Business, Innovation, and Technology for the Workforce) Challenge invites university and community college students nationwide to work with real NASA intellectual property and mission challenges.

Choose your path: develop commercial applications of NASA patents that solve problems here on Earth (ORBIT Earth), or design next-generation technologies for space exploration (ORBIT Space). The most ambitious teams can pursue both through the optional Integration Bonus.

Award: Up to $500,000 in prizes, receive mentorship from NASA experts, and present your work at an in-person showcase. Finalists gain access to an exclusive accelerator program designed to launch careers in STEM and entrepreneurship.

Challenge Open Date: September 14, 2026

Registration Close Date: November 16, 2026

For more information, visit: https://nasaorbit.org/