Published June 24, 2025 at 11:43 PM PDT Facebook Become a KPBS sponsor "We'll be conducting research that spans biology, material and physical sciences as well as technology demonstrations," said Whitson. "We'll also be engaging with students around the world, sharing our experience and inspiring the next generation of explorers." The crew is making the trip in a brand new SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, designed to transport civil and commercial astronauts to the I.S.S. and other places in low-Earth orbit. The Dragon will remain docked at the station, standing ready to return the crew after their mission — splashing down off southern California in the Pacific Ocean. Dragon is the only U.S. spacecraft certified by NASA to take astronauts to the space station. During a public feud earlier this month with President Trump, SpaceX founder Elon Musk threatened to decommission the Dragon spacecraft in a now-deleted post on X. Musk walked back on that statement shortly after posting. The agency's other option for astronaut transports — Boeing's Starliner capsule — faced significant delays and technical issues on a test flight last year. NASA made the decision to return that crew in a SpaceX Dragon capsule and return Starliner without a crew as it investigates the vehicle's issues. "NASA is assessing the earliest potential for a Starliner flight to the International Space Station in early 2026, pending system certification and resolution of Starliner's technical issues," said NASA in a recent statement. "The agency is still evaluating whether Starliner's next flight will be in a crew or cargo configuration." This is the 18th time SpaceX has launched humans into orbit. Copyright 2025 NPR