The SpaceX Dragon Endeavour spacecraft is seen as it splashes down in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Pensacola, Florida, at 3:29 a.m. EDT, returning Crew-8 to Earth. Photo credit: NASA+
NASA astronauts Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt, and Jeanette Epps, as well as Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin, splashed down safely in their SpaceX Dragon spacecraft off the coast of Pensacola, Florida, at 3:29 a.m. EDT, completing a seven-month science mission aboard the International Space Station.
Teams on the SpaceX recovery ship, including two fast boats, are securing Dragon and ensuring the spacecraft is safe for recovery. As the fast boat teams complete their work, the recovery ship will move into position to hoist Dragon onto the main deck with the Crew-8 crew members inside. Once on the main deck, the crew will be taken out of the spacecraft and undergo medical checks before a short helicopter ride to board a plane for NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.
NASA and SpaceX will hold a media teleconference later this morning at 5 a.m. EDT to discuss the Crew-8 mission and the crew’s return to Earth. NASA will stream live coverage of the teleconference on the agency’s YouTube channel. Participants include:
Richard Jones, deputy manager, NASA’s Commercial Crew Program
Bill Spetch, operations and integration manager, NASA’s International Space Station Program
William Gerstenmaier, vice president, Build & Flight Reliability, SpaceX
NASA’s live coverage continues as NASA astronauts Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt, and Jeanette Epps, as well as Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin, make their return to Earth inside the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft on the agency’s SpaceX Crew-8 mission. Splashdown is scheduled for approximately 3:29 a.m. EDT off the coast of Pensacola, Florida. Recovery teams are taking positions in the recovery zone.
The critical deorbit burn is scheduled to start at 2:39 a.m. EDT and will last approximately eight minutes.
Live coverage of Crew-8’s return begins at 2:15 a.m. EDT on NASA+ and the agency’s website. Learn how to watch NASA content through a variety of platforms, including social media.
Members of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-8 from right to left, NASA astronauts Jeanette Epps, mission specialist; Matthew Dominick, commander; Michael Barratt, pilot; and Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin, mission specialist; will splash down off the coast of Florida no earlier than Sunday, Oct. 13. Photo credit: SpaceX
NASA and SpaceX are targeting no earlier than 7:05 a.m. EDT Sunday, Oct. 13, for the agency’s SpaceX Crew-8 mission to undock from the International Space Station. Pending weather conditions, the earliest splashdown time is targeted for 3:38 p.m. Monday, Oct. 14, at one of the multiple zones available off the coast of Florida.
NASA astronauts Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt, and Jeanette Epps, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin, are completing a seven-month science expedition aboard the orbiting laboratory and will return important and time-sensitive research to Earth.
Mission managers continue monitoring weather conditions in the area, as Dragon’s undocking depends on various factors, including spacecraft readiness, recovery team readiness, weather, sea states, and other factors. NASA will select a specific splashdown time and location closer to the Crew-8 spacecraft undocking.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched on March 3, 2024, from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida carrying the agency’s SpaceX Crew-8 mission into orbit for a mission to the International Space Station. Photo credit: NASA
NASA astronauts Matthew Dominick, commander; Michael Barratt, pilot; and mission specialist Jeanette Epps, as well as Roscosmos cosmonaut mission specialist Alexander Grebenkin are on their way to the International Space Station, following the picture-perfect launch of the agency’s SpaceX Crew-8 mission. SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft, named Endeavour, launched at 10:53 p.m. EST atop the company’s Falcon 9 rocket from the agency’s Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39A in Florida.
“I want to personally thank the crew for their work and the sacrifice that they’ve made of their time to train and be ready for this mission,” said NASA Associate Administrator Jim Free. “Crew-8’s mission will further the understanding of how humans learn and behave in space and how their bodies respond, and it’s all critical to our lunar exploration. We need all of these to come together to understand how people and technologies and systems will behave when we go on longer duration missions.”
Once in orbit, the crew and SpaceX mission control in Hawthorne, California, will monitor a series of automatic maneuvers that will guide Dragon to the forward-facing port of the station’s Harmony module. The spacecraft is designed to dock autonomously, but the crew can take control and pilot manually, if necessary.
Upon arrival, the members of Crew-8 will be welcomed inside the station by the seven-member crew of Expedition 70 and conduct several days of handover activities with the departing astronauts of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-7 mission. After the handover period, NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli, ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Andy Mogensen, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Satoshi Furukawa, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov of Crew-7 will undock from the space station and splash down off the coast of Florida.
“We’ll have five dock days of Crew-8/Crew-7 handover activities, after which we’ll start watching weather and look for a landing opportunity for Crew-7,” said Joel Montalbano, NASA program manager, International Space Station. “Crew-8 will stay onboard the International Space Station until mid-August, performing over 200 experiments in science and research, technology development, and commercialization of low-Earth orbit.”
The members of Crew-8 will conduct new scientific research to prepare for human exploration beyond low Earth orbit and benefit humanity on Earth. Experiments include using stem cells to create organoid models to study degenerative diseases, studying the effects of microgravity and UV radiation on plants at a cellular level, and testing whether wearing pressure cuffs on the legs could prevent fluid shifts and reduce health problems in astronauts. These are just a few of the more than 200 scientific experiments and technology demonstrations taking place during their mission.
At the end of their mission, Crew-8 will complete a short handover with Crew-9, and the Dragon spacecraft – with the four crew members aboard – will autonomously undock, depart the space station, and re-enter Earth’s atmosphere. After splashdown off of Florida’s coast, a SpaceX recovery vessel will pick up the spacecraft and crew, who then will be helicoptered back to shore.
“What a crazy exciting time in space right now,” said Free. “And it’s all rooted in NASA’s mission of exploring the unknown in air and space, innovating for the benefit of humanity, and inspiring the world through discovery. The four individuals of Crew-8 exemplify that.”
The agency’s SpaceX Crew-8 mission is the eighth commercial crew rotation mission for NASA.
NASA’s SpaceX Crew-8 mission launches from Kennedy Space Center at 10:53 p.m. EST on Sunday, March 3, 2024. Photo credit: NASA Television
The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft carrying NASA astronauts Matthew Dominick, commander; Michael Barratt, pilot; and mission specialist Jeanette Epps along with Roscosmos cosmonaut mission specialist Alexander Grebenkin to the International Space Station has safely reached orbit, and the nosecone has opened.
A postlaunch news conference will be held at approximately 12:15 a.m. EST at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center with the following participants:
Steve Stich, manager, Commercial Crew Program, NASA Kennedy
Joel Montalbano, manager, International Space Station Program, NASA Johnson
Sarah Walker, director, Dragon Mission Management, SpaceX
NASA will air the postlaunch news conference on NASA+, NASA Television, the NASA app, YouTube, and the agency’s website.
Follow along with mission activities and get more information on the International Space Station blog.
The Dragon spacecraft has separated from the Falcon 9’s second stage and is flying on its own. The spacecraft is traveling at approximately 17,500 miles per hour (28,200 kilometers per hour). In less than a minute, the Dragon nosecone open sequence will begin.
After about nine minutes of flight, the Falcon 9’s second stage has shut down and the Dragon spacecraft now is in orbit, where it will soon separate from Falcon 9’s upper stage and continue its journey to the International Space Station. Momentarily, the rocket’s first stage will attempt to land at SpaceX’s Landing Zone 1 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
Back on Earth, the first stage of the Falcon 9 rocket has completed its descent and landed at SpaceX’s Landing Zone 1 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
The Falcon 9 rocket has reached first stage main engine cutoff (MECO), and the first and second stages have separated. Next, the Falcon 9’s second stage engine will start.
NASA’s SpaceX Crew-8 mission launches from Kennedy Space Center at 10:53 p.m. EST on Sunday, March 3, 2024. Photo credit: NASA/Bill Stafford
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft, named Endeavour, lit up Florida’s night sky, as NASA astronauts Matthew Dominick, commander; Michael Barratt, pilot; and mission specialist Jeanette Epps, as well as Roscosmos cosmonaut mission specialist Alexander Grebenkin, started their approximately 28-hour journey to the International Space Station on NASA’s SpaceX Crew-8 mission. Liftoff occurred at 10:53 p.m. EST.
At the time of launch, the space station is flying 260 statute miles over the southern Arabian Sea, southwest of India.
