SpaceX Crew-13 will fly stem-cell heart and Parkinson's tissue models to the space station
NASA's SpaceX Crew-13 will fly four astronauts from three agencies to the space station no earlier than Oct. 1. Its research includes human stem-cell-derived heart and Parkinson's tissue models, and their value will depend on how they compare with matched samples kept on the ground.
The Scientist · Science desk
What happened
- NASA's Jessica Watkins commands and Luke Delaney pilots, with CSA astronaut Joshua Kutryk and Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov flying as mission specialists.
- The crew launches from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and will join the station's Expedition 75 crew.
- The crew rides the Dragon capsule Grace, last flown in summer 2025 on the private Axiom Mission 4.
- Watkins, who logged 170 days in space on Crew-4 in 2022, will become the first NASA astronaut to launch twice aboard a Dragon.
- Crew-12, now aboard the station, is preparing to return to Earth after a brief handover once Crew-13 arrives.
Why it matters
- What it limits constraint The heart and Parkinson's tissue work can be weighed only once investigators publish how many samples flew and how the results compare with matched ground samples.
- What it limits constraint Oct. 1 is a floor that can only move later, and it still depends on a crew dress rehearsal and an integrated static fire test that have yet to run.
- What it sets up precedent Putting an agency rotation crew in a capsule whose last trip carried a private mission adds private flights to the service history of the vehicles NASA crews ride.
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NASA's mission overview describes Crew-13's science in two sentences from Dana Weigel, who manages NASA's Low Earth Orbit Program at Johnson Space Center in Houston [11]. "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," Weigel said [9].
Nobody will be treated in orbit. The tissues are models grown from human stem cells, and the second half of her sentence says what they are for: disease modeling and drug testing [9]. Whether a flown tissue model teaches researchers anything depends on its design: how many samples go up, and which matched samples stay on the ground as controls. NASA's overview does not name the investigations or describe those designs [9].
The rest of the list goes beyond the tissue work. "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," Weigel said [10]. NASA presents the mission's science as work toward future Moon and Mars missions and toward improving life on Earth [5].
The sample size for the diagnostic equipment is easy to state. The equipment is meant for monitoring crew health, and on this flight the crew is four people [19]. Two of them, Delaney and Kutryk, have never flown in space before [17][18]. Watkins is a geologist who studied the Martian surface as a member of the Curiosity rover science team at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory [16].
The flight is the 13th SpaceX crew rotation to the station under NASA's Commercial Crew Office [12]. Its Falcon 9 booster is being prepared for its third flight [13].
What to watch
- Whether NASA or the investigators name the stem-cell tissue studies and publish their flight sample counts and ground-control plans.
- Results of the integrated static fire test and crew dry dress rehearsal, and whether the 11:10 a.m. EDT Oct. 1 target holds.
- Timing of the Crew-12 handover and return once Crew-13 docks.
Clarity's read
What the record supports and how the coverage leans. The claims behind it follow.
Reality
- Evidence55
- Adoption
- Not scored
- Hype gap+30
- Incentives75
- Confidence60
Claim ledger
Ranked by verification strength, evidence, and original report placement.
- [1]
NASA astronauts Jessica Watkins and Luke Delaney will serve as spacecraft commander and pilot; CSA astronaut Joshua Kutryk and Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov will fly as mission specialists.
- [2]
Crew-13 will lift off no earlier than 11:10 a.m. EDT, Thursday, Oct. 1.
- [3]
Crew-13 will launch from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida and join the space station's Expedition 75 crew.
- [4]
Four crew members are set to launch to the International Space Station on NASA's SpaceX Crew-13 mission to perform research, technology demonstrations, and maintenance.
- [5]
Throughout the 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.
- [6]
NASA's SpaceX Crew-12 is preparing to return to Earth after a brief handover once Crew-13 arrives.
- [7]
After checkouts and certification, teams will mate Dragon to Falcon 9, roll the integrated vehicle to the pad, and conduct a dry dress rehearsal with the crew and an integrated static fire test before launch.
- [8]
Crew-13's four members come from three agencies: NASA (two), CSA (one) and Roscosmos (one).
- [9]
"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,"
- [10]
"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."
- [11]
Dana Weigel is manager of NASA's Low Earth Orbit Program at the agency's Johnson Space Center in Houston.
- [12]
The flight is the 13th crew rotation mission with SpaceX to the space station as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Office.
- [13]
Teams are preparing a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket booster for its third flight for Crew-13.
- [14]
The crew will fly aboard the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft Grace, which previously flew in summer 2025 in support of private astronaut mission Axiom Mission 4.
- [15]
This is Watkins's second flight to the station; she spent 170 days in space on Crew-4 across Expeditions 67/68 in 2022 and will be the first NASA astronaut to launch twice aboard a SpaceX Dragon.
- [16]
Watkins is a geologist who studied the Martian surface and was a member of the Curiosity rover science team at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
- [17]
Crew-13 is Luke Delaney's first spaceflight.
- [18]
Crew-13 is Joshua Kutryk's first spaceflight.
- [19]
The new crew-health diagnostic equipment has at most four people to monitor on this flight.
Sources
2 independent publishers whose own reporting we read for this story.
- nasa.govWhat You Need to Know About NASA’s SpaceX Crew-13 Mission
3 articles · September 29, 2026
- sciencedaily.comNASA’s Crew-13 could go from Florida to the ISS in under 9 hours
2 articles · September 30, 2026
Topics and entities
Topics
- Human Spaceflight
- Commercial Crew Program
- Microgravity biomedical research
Entities
- Sergey Teteryatnikov
- Falcon 9
- Canadian Space Agency
- International Space Station
- NASA
- SpaceX
- Roscosmos