The four astronauts heading to the International Space Station this fall introduced themselves and outlined their mission plans at NASA's Johnson Space Center on Monday, Aug. 3, putting the Clear Lake-area campus at the center of America's next crewed spaceflight.

Commander Jessica Watkins and her three crewmates spoke at JSC's Building 2N, Studio C, during back-to-back press briefings that covered mission goals and crew preparations for Expedition 75. Watkins, the only Crew-13 member who has flown in space before, will become the first active NASA astronaut to fly aboard a Dragon spacecraft twice when the crew launches no earlier than Sept. 12 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, according to NASA's space station blog.

"We expect a very busy mission with lots of station maintenance, both internal and external, with a few EVAs on the docket," Watkins said at the Aug. 3 briefing, referring to spacewalks. She added the crew expects visiting vehicle operations, science experiments and outreach activities during their seven-month stay.

Joining Watkins are Pilot Luke Delaney of NASA, Mission Specialist Joshua Kutryk of the Canadian Space Agency and Mission Specialist Sergey Teteryatnikov of Roscosmos.

All three are first-time space flyers.

Kutryk, who will be the fourth Canadian to serve on an ISS crew and the second to fly to space in 2026 after Jeremy Hansen launched around the moon on the Artemis II crew in April, reflected on his path from a cattle farm in Canada to the doorstep of orbit. His third child is expected to be born while he is aboard the station. "It's about midway through — pretty much perfect timing. That's sarcasm," Kutryk joked during the briefing.

The crew will fly aboard the Dragon spacecraft named "Grace," the newest in SpaceX's fleet and making its second flight. Crew-13 marks SpaceX's 18th human spaceflight mission to the ISS, according to Julianna Scheiman, director of NASA science and Dragon programs at SpaceX, who spoke at the Aug. 3 briefing.

Dana Weigel, NASA's manager for its low Earth orbit program, confirmed at the briefing that final integration of the Dragon capsule is complete and no major issues are being tracked for the launch campaign.

During their stay, the crew plans research on heart disease and Parkinson's disease using human stem cell-derived tissues, crop production studies for long-duration spaceflight, blood flow investigations and testing of new diagnostic medical equipment, Space.com reported.

NASA's Johnson Space Center confirmed the briefings in a post on X on Tuesday, Aug. 4. Photos from the event were credited to NASA photographers James Blair and Morgan Gridley.

The Crew-13 astronauts were scheduled to travel to Cape Canaveral on Friday, Aug. 7, to don new SpaceX suits and board Grace for a pre-launch "test drive." The Sept. 12 launch would send the crew to dock with the station the following day for a roughly seven-month stay as part of Expedition 75 and 76.

Coming up: Space Center Houston hosts its first on-site Space News & Brews on Saturday, Aug. 8. The Crew-13 launch is targeted for no earlier than Sept. 12.