NASA station crew prepares for Crew-13 arrival while research continues

NASA said on Sept. 30 that the seven people aboard the International Space Station were preparing its Harmony module for four Crew-13 arrivals, scheduled to launch and dock on Oct. 1. The work includes clearing the docking area and staging supplies, while the Expedition 75 crew continues research and station maintenance ahead of the planned handover.

The update adds the station crew’s preparations to NewsJaws’ earlier report on Crew-13’s research plans. NASA’s schedule calls for a SpaceX Falcon 9 carrying the Dragon spacecraft to lift off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 11:10 a.m. EDT on Thursday. Docking at Harmony’s forward port is planned for about 7 p.m. EDT; neither event had occurred when NASA published its Sept. 30 update.

How Expedition 75 is preparing Harmony for Crew-13

Station commander Jessica Meir reorganized cargo inside Harmony’s pressurized mating adapter-2, where Dragon is expected to dock, to make room for the incoming crew. NASA flight engineers Anil Menon and Jack Hathaway staged supplies in Harmony for the four arrivals’ immediate needs. These were specific station-side steps described in NASA’s Wednesday update, beyond the mission’s launch preparations on the ground.

Crew-13 commander Jessica Watkins and pilot Luke Delaney are NASA astronauts. Mission specialist Joshua Kutryk represents the Canadian Space Agency, and mission specialist Sergey Teteryatnikov is a Roscosmos cosmonaut. Under NASA’s plan, they will open the hatch about 90 minutes after docking, enter Harmony, meet the Expedition 75 crew and receive a safety orientation. Those timings remain contingent on the scheduled launch and docking.

Research and maintenance continue before the handover

While her colleagues prepared Harmony, Adenot worked in the Columbus laboratory module with the European Enhanced Exploration Exercise Device. She pedaled its cycle as researchers continue testing whether it can help crews maintain fitness during long missions. NASA described the work as a test of the device’s potential; the update did not report a demonstrated result for future missions.

Adenot also practiced simulated lunar landings on a computer. NASA said the exercise helps researchers study how microgravity affects a crew member’s cognition during manual spacecraft piloting. The simulation is part of ongoing research, rather than a report that a lunar landing or an operational test has taken place.

Fedyaev continued testing a lower-body negative-pressure suit intended to move fluids from the head toward the feet, countering a shift associated with time in space. NASA said the suit may help crews readjust to Earth’s gravity after a long mission. That possible benefit remains a research aim in the agency’s account.

Kikina and Dubrov took turns wearing cuffs on their arms, wrists and fingers to measure blood pressure for a study of microgravity’s effects on small blood vessels. Their work was followed by routine station tasks: Kikina unloaded cargo recently delivered by the Progress 96 spacecraft, while Dubrov worked on life-support systems and computers.

What happens next for the Crew-13 mission

Space.com reported on Sept. 29 that Crew-13’s Falcon 9 and Dragon were at the launch pad and that mission teams had conducted a static-fire test. The outlet described Crew-13 as the next flight in NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, which supports a sustained human presence aboard the station. NASA identifies this flight as its 13th SpaceX crew rotation mission to the orbital laboratory.

NASA says Crew-13 is intended to conduct research, technology demonstrations and maintenance during a long-duration stay. Its mission overview lists studies involving stem-cell-derived tissues relevant to heart disease and Parkinson’s disease, crop production, blood-flow changes in space and equipment for monitoring crew health. Those plans explain what the incoming crew is expected to work on; they are not findings from completed Crew-13 experiments.

The Dragon assigned to the flight is named Grace and previously flew the private Axiom Mission 4 in summer 2025, according to NASA. The agency scheduled live launch coverage to begin at 9:20 a.m. EDT on Oct. 1 and docking coverage at 5:20 p.m. EDT. The immediate question is whether the launch, docking and planned crew handover proceed on that timetable.