Month: March 2024

For NASA’s SpaceX Crew-8 launch, targeted at 10:53 p.m. EST tonight, the U.S. Space Force’s 45th Weather Squadron predicts a 75% chance of favorable weather conditions at the launch pad for liftoff. The primary weather concerns for the launch area are flight through precipitation and the anvil cloud rule.

The Dragon spacecraft carrying NASA astronauts Matthew Dominick, commander; Michael Barratt, pilot; and Jeanette Epps, as well as Roscosmos cosmonaut mission specialist Alexander Grebenkin, will launch to the International Space Station on the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program.

NASA’s live coverage of Crew-8 activities begins at 6:45 p.m. EST on NASA+, NASA Television, the NASA app, YouTube, and the agency’s website. Follow along for details about the mission and NASA’s Commercial Crew Program on the Crew-8 blog, the commercial crew blog, X, and Facebook.

NASA and SpaceX now are targeting 10:53 p.m. EST Sunday, March 3, for the launch of the agency’s Crew-8 mission to the International Space Station from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The launch attempt March 2 was postponed due to unfavorable conditions in the flight path of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft.

NASA will provide coverage beginning at 6:45 p.m., March 3, of the upcoming launch activities for the agency’s SpaceX Crew-8 mission with astronauts to the International Space Station.

The Crew-8 launch will carry NASA astronauts Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt, and Jeanette Epps, as well as Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin to the orbital laboratory. The targeted docking time is about 3 a.m. on Tuesday, March 5.

NASA’s mission coverage is as follows (all times Eastern and subject to change based on real-time operations):

Sunday, March 3:
6:45 p.m. – Launch coverage begins
10:53 p.m. – Launch

Following conclusion of launch and ascent coverage, NASA coverage will continue with audio only, with full coverage resuming at the start of the rendezvous and docking broadcast.

NASA Television will resume continuous mission coverage prior to docking and continue through hatch open and the welcome ceremony. For NASA TV downlink information, schedules, and links to streaming video, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/nasatv/

12:30 a.m. (approximately) – Postlaunch news conference on NASA TV

• Steve Stich, manager, Commercial Crew Program
• Joel Montalbano, manager, International Space Station Program
• Sarah Walker, director, Dragon Mission Management, SpaceX

Tuesday, March 5:
1 a.m. – NASA TV arrival coverage begins
3 a.m. – Targeted docking to the forward-facing port of the station’s Harmony module

Hatch opening will be approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes after docking followed by welcome remarks aboard station. All times are estimates and could be adjusted based on operations after launch. Follow the space station blog for the most up-to-date operations information.

More details about the Crew-8 mission can be found by following the Crew-8 blog, the commercial crew blog, @commercial_crew on X, and commercial crew on Facebook.

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-8 mission NASA astronauts Matthew Dominick, commander; Michael Barratt, pilot; and mission specialist Jeanette Epps, as well as Roscosmos cosmonaut mission specialist Alexander Grebenkin, are in the suit room in the astronaut crew quarters inside Kennedy Space Center’s Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building.

A team of SpaceX suit technicians will help them as they put on their custom-fitted spacesuits and check for leaks. Designed for safety and functionality, the spacesuits supply pressurization, protecting the crew from potential depressurization, and a port located on the thigh connects to life support systems, including air and power. Also included in the suits are touchscreen-compatible gloves and a flame-resistant outer layer.

Watch now on NASA+, NASA Television, the NASA app, YouTube, and the agency’s website, where NASA is providing live coverage of key milestones leading up to launch and through ascent following liftoff.

Below are some of the key milestones leading up to the launch of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-8 mission, as well as some critical events that occur after liftoff. The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft are scheduled to lift off a little more than four hours from now at 11:16 p.m. EST from Kennedy Space Center’s historic Launch Complex 39A in Florida.

Time             Event (All times approximate)
6:56 p.m.    Crew weather brief
7:11 p.m.      Crew handoff to SpaceX
7:16 p.m.     Suit donning and checkouts
7:56 p.m.    Crew walkout from Neil A. Armstrong Operations & Checkout Building
8:01 p.m.    Crew transportation to Launch Complex 39A
8:21 p.m.    Crew arrives at pad and ascends tower
8:41 p.m.    Crew ingress
8:46 p.m.    Communication check
8:47 p.m.    Seat rotation
8:48 p.m.    Suit leak checks
9:21 p.m.      Hatch close
10:31 p.m.    SpaceX Launch Director verifies go for propellant load
10:34 p.m.    Crew access arm retracts
10:37 p.m.    Dragon’s launch escape system is armed
10:41 p.m.    RP-1 (rocket grade kerosene) loading begins
10:41 p.m.    1st stage LOX (liquid oxygen) loading begins
11:00 p.m.    2nd stage LOX loading begins
11:09 p.m.    Falcon 9 begins engine chill prior to launch
11:11 p.m.    Dragon transitions to internal power
11:15 p.m.    Command flight computer to begin final prelaunch checks
11:15 p.m.    Propellant tank pressurization to flight pressure begins
11:15 p.m.    SpaceX Launch Director verifies go for launch
11:16 p.m.    Falcon 9 liftoff
11:17 p.m.    Max Q (moment of peak mechanical stress on the rocket)
11:18 p.m.    1st stage main engine cutoff (MECO)
11:18 p.m.    1st and 2nd stages separate
11:18 p.m.    2nd stage engine starts
11:19 p.m.    Boostback Burn Starts
11:22 p.m.    Boostback Burn Ends
11:22 p.m.    1st stage entry burn starts
11:23 p.m.    1st stage entry burn ends
11:23 p.m.    1st stage landing burn starts
11:23 p.m.    1st stage landing
11:25 p.m.    2nd stage engine cutoff (SECO-1)
11:28 p.m.    Dragon separates from 2nd stage
11:29 p.m.    Dragon nosecone open sequence begins

NASA’s live coverage of the Crew-8 launch is airing now on NASA+, NASA Television, the NASA app, YouTube, and the agency’s website, and you can follow along on the mission blog, the commercial crew blog, X, and Facebook for continuous coverage of important Crew-8 launch activities.