Launch weather officers with Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s 45th Weather Squadron predict a 40% chance of favorable weather conditions for the launch of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-8 mission at 11:16 p.m. EST Saturday, March 2, from the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
A weather front across Central Florida over the next several days will bring significant cloud cover, isolated rain showers, and occasionally gusty winds. The primary weather concerns at launch will be isolated showers and thick clouds associated with the stalled front.
The Dragon spacecraft carrying NASA astronauts Matthew Dominick, commander; Michael Barratt, pilot; and Jeanette Epps, mission specialist; as well as Roscosmos cosmonaut mission specialist Alexander Grebenkin, will launch to the International Space Station on the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Kennedy’s Launch Complex 39A as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. The crew remains in quarantine after NASA and SpaceX selected the updated launch opportunity due to unfavorable weather conditions forecast along the Dragon’s ascent corridor during earlier opportunities. In the unlikely case of an abort during launch or the flight of Dragon, the wind and wave conditions must be within acceptable conditions for the safe recovery of the crew and spacecraft.
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