NASA’s SpaceX Crew-13 mission lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 11:10 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 1, sending Florida-born astronaut Luke Delaney into low-Earth orbit on his first trip to the International Space Station.
Delaney, who calls DeBary home, is serving as pilot of the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft. He is flying with NASA astronaut and mission commander Jessica Watkins, Canadian Space Agency astronaut Joshua Kutryk and Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov. The Dragon was expected to dock with the station’s Harmony module at 7 p.m. Thursday.
The launch came despite a cloudy and uncertain weather forecast. Delaney is a 1997 graduate of Deltona High School and earned a mechanical engineering degree from the University of North Florida in 2006. He is also a retired U.S. Marine Corps major and Naval test pilot.
University of North Florida leaders watched the launch from the Banana Creek Launch Viewing Area at Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, about 6.2 miles from Launch Complex 40. UNF Executive Vice President and Provost Karen Patterson said she was “moved to tears,” describing the significance of seeing an alumnus reach space.
Delaney is one of eight Florida-born NASA astronauts to fly in space since the agency selected its first astronaut class in 1959, according to NASA’s Astronaut Fact Book. Deltona High marked the occasion with a school watch party and proclaimed Thursday “Luke Delaney Day.”
Volusia County Schools communications chief Mike Micallef said Delaney’s flight gives students a tangible example of careers in engineering, science, aviation and space exploration.
