Crew 13 and lunar plans Isaacman gives NASA outlook

Oct 1

Jared Isaacman says Crew 13 launched with four astronauts to relieve Crew 12 on a six-to-seven-month ISS expedition, researching pharmaceuticals, agriculture and technologies useful on Earth and in later exploration. Baier airs commander Jessica Watkins thanking the teams and names Luke Delaney, Joshua Kutryk and a Russian crewmember. Isaacman separately previews a Falcon Heavy launch later that evening with an unspecified national-security payload. He says the first moon-base mission is planned for December 2026, near-monthly uncrewed rover and lander missions in early 2027, Artemis 3 in 2027 and an Artemis 4 lunar-surface return in 2028. He emphasizes competition for lunar south-pole sites and resources and cites Chinese-Russian ambitions. The future schedule is his plan, not completed launches or landings.

Fox shows Crew 13's Falcon 9 liftoff and reports four astronauts safely in orbit after the morning launch. Isaacman says they will relieve Crew 12 for about six to seven months of ISS pharmaceutical, agricultural and technology research. Commander Jessica Watkins thanks the teams; Baier names Luke Delaney, Joshua Kutryk and a Russian crewmember. Launch and orbital flight are reported, not completed docking or expedition results.