The infrared photograph featured by Space.com shows SpaceX’s October 1, 2026, Crew-13 launch: four astronauts lifting off from Florida aboard a Dragon spacecraft atop a Falcon 9. Its black-and-white infrared rendering makes the launch’s bright exhaust and heat visually prominent, but the feature does not identify the photographer or the camera and capture method.
What does the Crew-13 infrared image show?
Space.com described its October 5, 2026, Space Photo of the Day as a black-and-white infrared photograph of Crew-13’s liftoff. The image’s infrared appearance offers a striking way to see the launch, with heat and exhaust forming a strong visual contrast. That description is about how the photograph looks; it is not a technical account of how it was made.
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The feature does not name the photographer, camera, sensor, lens, infrared band, filter, settings, or processing workflow. Without those details, it is not possible to say whether the image came from a thermal camera, a modified camera, or another infrared imaging approach. Nor does the image establish a measured temperature.
Which mission is pictured?
Crew-13 launched at 11:10 a.m. EDT on October 1, 2026, from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The crew rode in a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft launched atop a Falcon 9 rocket. NASA describes Crew-13 as the 13th crew-rotation mission of SpaceX’s human space transportation system and the 14th flight with NASA astronauts to the International Space Station when the Demo-2 test flight is included.
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| Crew member | Agency | Role identified by NASA |
|---|---|---|
| Jessica Watkins | NASA | Commander |
| Luke Delaney | NASA | Pilot |
| Joshua Kutryk | Canadian Space Agency | Not stated |
| Sergey Teteryatnikov | Roscosmos | Not stated |
What was the crew’s destination and work?
The destination was the International Space Station (ISS). SpaceX’s mission description covers the flight from liftoff and orbit activation through phasing burns, approach, and autonomous docking; it also describes recovery of the Falcon 9 first stage at Landing Zone 40.
NASA’s October 1 launch release outlined planned research and station work, including:
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- Growing human stem-cell-derived tissues for research related to personalized medicine, disease modeling, and pharmaceutical testing.
- Experiments involving plant growth.
- Research into blood-flow abnormalities in microgravity.
- Use of a new inflight diagnostic device.
These were activities described by NASA at launch, not a report of completed experiments.
How fast was the trip to the station?
NASA said the planned trip from launch to the docking sequence would take approximately 7 hours and 50 minutes. In its October 1, 2026, release, NASA called the launch-to-docking trip a record for the fastest U.S. spacecraft journey to the ISS. That is NASA’s characterization of the mission’s planned timing, rather than an independently stated comparison here.
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Who took the infrared photograph?
The retrieved text of the Space.com feature does not provide an image credit or identify the equipment. NASA’s Crew-13 gallery contains official mission photographs, including images dated October 1 showing Dragon approaching the ISS, but those gallery entries do not establish that NASA made or credited the specific infrared liftoff photograph featured by Space.com.
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said, “Crew-13 is another demonstration of America’s unmatched capability in human spaceflight and the strength of our commercial partnerships.” Dr. Lori Glaze, associate administrator of NASA’s Human Spaceflight Mission Directorate, said the steady cadence of commercial crew launches demonstrates the ISS’s role in sustaining a U.S. presence in orbit and preparing tools for missions to the Moon and Mars. Both statements appeared in NASA’s October 1 launch release.
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Sources
- Space.com’s October 5, 2026, photo feature describes the featured image as black-and-white infrared.
- NASA’s Crew-13 mission page lists the mission, crew, launch time, and flight count.
- NASA’s October 1, 2026, launch release provides launch, crew, research, timing, and quotation details.
- NASA’s Crew-13 image gallery contains official mission imagery, but does not identify the featured infrared image.
- SpaceX’s Crew-13 mission page describes the launch, Dragon’s flight sequence, and first-stage recovery.
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