Astronaut Joshua Kutryk to Carry Century-Old Family Watch on Crew-13 Launch to ISS
Canadian astronaut Joshua Kutryk will take a 100-year-old pocket watch aboard SpaceX's Crew-13 mission, which is set to launch Thursday from Cape Canaveral and dock with the International Space Station for a six-month stay.
Canadian Space Agency astronaut Joshua Kutryk will travel to the International Space Station on SpaceX's Crew-13 mission carrying a pocket watch that has been in his family for more than a century. Kutryk said the heirloom reminds him of the progress made over the past hundred years and hopes it will inspire future advancements.
The Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled to lift off from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 11:10 a.m. ET on Thursday, with docking expected around 7 p.m. ET. The four-person crew—Kutryk, NASA astronauts Jessica Watkins and Luke Delaney, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov—will join Expedition 75 for a six-month mission, relieving Crew-12.
NASA officials highlighted the mission’s scientific agenda, which includes studies on heart disease, Parkinson’s disease, stem-cell-derived tissues, crop production for long-duration flights, blood-flow abnormalities, and testing of new medical diagnostic equipment.
Bill Gerstenmaier, SpaceX vice president of Build and Flight Reliability, said the close orbital alignment between the station and Dragon spacecraft facilitated a rapid rendezvous, potentially making this the fastest trip to the ISS.
Lori Glaze, NASA’s associate administrator for the Human Spaceflight Mission Directorate, noted that the crew will undergo a brief handover with the departing Crew-12 before the latter returns to Earth.
The launch proceeds under favorable weather forecasts, though a 45% chance of postponement remains due to possible cloud cover and rain. Earlier delays in August were caused by an oxidizer leak and other technical issues on the Dragon vehicle, which have since been resolved following a Launch Readiness Review.