The crew of NASA’s Crew‑13 mission will try to lift off Thursday morning from Cape Canaveral. Forecasts call for variable weather and a chance of showers, so a Friday launch window is kept as a backup.

44‑year‑old Joshua Kutryk, a Canadian Space Agency astronaut, is the mission specialist for the flight. He will travel to the International Space Station aboard SpaceX’s Crew Dragon together with Russian cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov, commander Jessica Watkins and pilot Luke Delaney.

Kutryk’s wife, Heather, is due to give birth to their third child while he is in orbit, meaning the new baby will arrive before his return to Earth.

At a press conference, CSA director Mathieu Caron said, “He’s so ready… and for him, for his family and for the mission at hand, we are in very high spirits.”

Kutryk was first slated to fly on Boeing’s CST‑100 Starliner, but after Boeing experienced major setbacks, NASA reassigned him to the SpaceX vehicle.

The overlap of a spaceflight with a family milestone highlights the personal side of astronauts. It reminds the public that even those who travel beyond Earth still share ordinary life events, making the mission especially relatable.