Bill Gerstenmaier
ON THE RECORD · 4 verbatim quotes · every quote source-verified
“But the absolute number one priority for us is to get the crew safely to orbit. We will continue to look at data. We will continue to review information. We'll look back through past records. We'll make sure everything is right, and when we're ready to go fly, we'll go fly.”
Bill Gerstenmaier · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-01
Gerstenmaier emphasized that getting the crew safely to orbit was the top priority after troubleshooting unexpected vehicle problems.
“The angle separation between space station and Dragon is very, very close, and that's just essentially orbital mechanics that got us in the right place,”
Bill Gerstenmaier · said 2026-09-30 · reported 2026-10-01
Gerstenmaier explained during a prelaunch news conference on Wednesday why the Crew-13 trip to the ISS will be the fastest for an American spacecraft.
“There was a recent orbit adjustment maneuver done by space station, and that kind of set things up, and we just kind of got lucky that they line up and work out extremely well.”
Bill Gerstenmaier · said 2026-09-30 · reported 2026-10-01
Gerstenmaier explained during a prelaunch news conference on Wednesday that a recent orbit adjustment by the space station helped align the trajectory.
“The spaceflight gave us some surprises here,”
Bill Gerstenmaier · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-01
Gerstenmaier acknowledged unexpected issues with the vehicle including an oxidizer leak, GPS problems, and a rocket engine motor microcontroller.