A NASA astronaut with ties to Central Florida is preparing for his first trip to space, launching just a few dozen miles from the high school he graduated from in 1997.
Luke Delaney is serving as the pilot for NASA's Crew-13 mission, which will take him and three others to the International Space Station in SpaceX's Crew Dragon capsule. NASA's Jessica Watkins will serve as commander, along with Canadian Space Agency Astronaut Joshua Kutryk and Russian cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov as mission specialists.
Delaney was born in Miami, but considers Debary his hometown. He graduated from Deltona High School in 1997, then enlisted in the Marine Corps. Delaney graduated from the University of North Florida in 2006 with a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering and the Naval Postgraduate School in 2016 with a master's degree in aerospace engineering.
After retiring from the Marine Corps in 2020, Delaney joined NASA as a research pilot. In 2022 he began training as an astronaut candidate.
Delaney will make his first flight to space launching from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station as early as mid-September. Delaney and crew will spend six months living and working aboard the International Space Station, conducting science experiments and maintenance on the orbiting lab.
While aboard, Delaney will conduct a spacewalk, venturing outside the space station to perform maintenance.
"So for me, between the science, the spacewalks, and everything else the expedition is going to have, it's going to be a great time," Delaney said. "Excited to launch with this crew, join the expedition, and integrate as an extension of NASA and all the ISS team members. Exciting times ahead."
After their rotation aboard the ISS, the crew will return home in the same capsule that brought them there, splashing down in the Pacific Ocean.
Delaney is known by his peers as "Mr. Reliable," a nickname his commander Jessica Watkins says is fitting.
"It definitely tracks. We are super super grateful to have Luke on the crew, and particularly for me to have Luke's side by side next to me as my pilot," Watkins said. "I certainly appreciate everything that Florida put into Luke to make him who he is today."
Another Floridian is tapped to join the upcoming Artemis III mission launching as early as mid-20278. Frank Rubio – who considers Miami his hometown – holds the U.S. record for longest single spaceflight at nearly 371 days. Rubio is serving as mission specialist for the upcoming Artemis mission, which will test lunar landers in low-Earth orbit.
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