A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the company’s Dragon spacecraft on top is seen on the launch pad at Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center. Photo credit: NASA Television
NASA’s SpaceX Crew-8 crew NASA astronauts Matthew Dominick, commander; Michael Barratt, pilot; and mission specialist Jeanette Epps, as well as Roscosmos cosmonaut mission specialist Alexander Grebenkin, have arrived at Kennedy’s Launch Complex 39A, where SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft, named Endeavour, stands ready for launch. Liftoff is slated for 10:53 p.m. EST.
In the next few minutes, the crew will take the elevator up the pad’s fixed service structure and walk down the air-conditioned crew access arm to the White Room, their final stop before climbing aboard Dragon.
Since the late 1960s, pads A and B at Kennedy’s Launch Complex 39 have supported America’s major space programs, with Pad A used most frequently for launches under the Space Shuttle Program. After the retirement of the shuttle in 2011, Pad A helped usher in a new era of human spaceflight as launch pad for the agency’s Commercial Crew Program, which returned human spaceflight capability to the United States. Pad B saw the launch of NASA’s Artemis I mission in November 2022 and will continue to be the primary launch pad for America’s efforts to return to humans the Moon.
NASA’s SpaceX Crew-8 NASA astronauts Matthew Dominick, commander; Michael Barratt, pilot; and mission specialist Jeanette Epps, as well as Roscosmos cosmonaut mission specialist Alexander Grebenkin, departed Kennedy Space Center’s Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building and are now on their way across the spaceport to Launch Pad 39A.
After waving to family, friends, and the support team members gathered to see them off on their journey, the Crew-8 crew climbed into their customized Tesla Model X vehicles for the 20-minute ride to the launch pad.
The crew’s vehicles are traveling in the middle of a convoy that includes support team members and security personnel. At the launch site, the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft, named Endeavour, stand ready for the crew’s arrival.
In view outside the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Sunday, March 3, 2024, SpaceX Crew-8 astronauts NASA astronauts Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt, and Jeanette Epps, Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin are driven to Launch Complex 39A for launch to the International Space Station. Photo credit: NASA/Cory S Huston
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. Photo Credit: NASA Television
NASA’s SpaceX Crew-8 flight crew just walked out of the double doors below the Neil A. Armstrong Building’s Astronaut Crew Quarters and made their way to the customized Tesla Model X cars that will take them to their spacecraft.
The Crew-8 mission will fly aboard SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft. The spacecraft, named Endeavour, previously supported NASA’s Demo-2, Crew-2, and Crew-6, as well as Axiom Space’s Axiom Mission 1 flights to and from the International Space Station. As part of the refurbishment process, teams installed new components, including the heat shield, parachutes, Draco engines, and nosecone.
Official SpaceX Crew-8 portrait, from right to left, NASA astronauts Mission Specialist Jeanette Epps, Commander Matthew Dominick, and Pilot Michael Barratt, as well as Roscosmos cosmonaut and Mission Specialist Aleksandr Grebenkin. Photo credit: NASA/Bill Stafford
Matthew Dominick will serve as commander for Crew-8, his first spaceflight, after being selected as an astronaut by NASA in 2017. He is from Wheat Ridge, Colorado, and earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of San Diego, California, and a master’s in systems engineering from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. He is an active-duty U.S. Navy astronaut. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School in Patuxent River, Maryland, and then served as a test pilot specializing in testing aircraft carriers’ landings and catapult launches.
Michael Barratt is the Crew-8 pilot, making his third visit to the International Space Station. In 2009, Barratt served as a flight engineer for Expeditions 19/20 as the station transitioned its standard crew complement from three to six and performed two spacewalks. He flew aboard the space shuttle Discovery in 2011 on STS-133, which delivered the Permanent Multipurpose Module and fourth Express Logistics Carrier. He has spent a total of 212 days in space. Born in Vancouver, Washington, he considers Camas, Washington, to be his hometown. Barratt earned a bachelor’s in zoology from the University of Washington, Seattle, and a Doctor of Medicine degree from Northwestern University in Chicago. He completed residencies in internal and aerospace medicine at Northwestern along with a master’s degree at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio. After nine years as a NASA flight surgeon and project physician, Barratt joined the astronaut corps in 2000.
Jeanette Epps was selected by NASA as an astronaut in 2009. She serves as mission specialist aboard Crew-8, her first spaceflight, working with the commander and pilot to monitor the spacecraft during the dynamic launch and re-entry phases of flight. She is from Syracuse, New York, and earned a bachelor’s in physics from LeMoyne College in Syracuse, and a master’s in science and a doctorate in aerospace engineering from the University of Maryland at College Park. Prior to joining NASA, she worked at Ford Motor Co. and the Central Intelligence Agency. She has served on the Generic Joint Operation Panel working on space station crew efficiency, as a crew support astronaut for two expeditions, and as lead capsule communicator at NASA Johnson. Epps previously was assigned to NASA’s Boeing Starliner-1 mission. NASA reassigned Epps to allow Boeing time to complete development of Starliner while also continuing plans for astronauts to gain spaceflight experience for future mission needs.
Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin, who graduated from Irkutsk High Military Aviation School, Irkutsk, Russia, majoring in engineering, maintenance, and repair of aircraft radio navigation systems, also is flying on his first mission. He graduated from Moscow Technical University of Communications and Informatics with a degree in radio communications, broadcasting, and television. Grebenkin will serve as a flight engineer during Expeditions 70/71 aboard the International Space Station.
NASA’s SpaceX Crew-8 crew members suit up ahead of launch on Sunday, March 3, 2024. Photo credit: NASA Television
For the second time in two days, 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 suiting up 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.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the company’s Dragon spacecraft on top is seen during sunset on the launch pad at Launch Complex 39A as preparations continue for the Crew-8 mission at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Photo Credit: NASA/Aubrey Gemignani
We’re just about four hours away from the launch of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-8 mission and weather continues to look great for launch, with the U.S. Space Force’s 45th Weather Squadron predicting an 75% chance of favorable weather conditions at launch.
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.
Here’s a look at some of the key milestones and critical events leading up to tonight’s launch and occurring after liftoff. The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft are scheduled to lift off at 10:53 p.m. EST from Kennedy Space Center’s historic Launch Complex 39A in Florida.
Time Event (All times approximate)
6:48 p.m. Crew handoff to SpaceX
6:53 p.m. Suit donning and checkouts
7:33 p.m. Crew walkout from Neil A. Armstrong Operations & Checkout Building
7:38 p.m. Crew transportation to Launch Complex 39A
7:58 p.m. Crew arrives at pad and ascends tower
8:18 p.m. Crew ingress
8:23 p.m. Communication check
8:24 p.m. Seat rotation
8:25 p.m. Suit leak checks
8:58 p.m. Hatch close
10:08 p.m. SpaceX Launch Director verifies go for propellant load
10:11 p.m. Crew access arm retracts
10:14 p.m. Dragon’s launch escape system is armed
10:18 p.m. RP-1 (rocket grade kerosene) loading begins
10:18 p.m. 1st stage LOX (liquid oxygen) loading begins
10:37 p.m. 2nd stage LOX loading begins
10:46 p.m. Falcon 9 begins engine chill prior to launch
10:48 p.m. Dragon transitions to internal power
10:52 p.m. Command flight computer to begin final prelaunch checks
10:52 p.m. Propellant tank pressurization to flight pressure begins
10:52 p.m. SpaceX Launch Director verifies go for launch
10:53 p.m. Falcon 9 liftoff
10:54 p.m. Max Q (moment of peak mechanical stress on the rocket)
10:55 p.m. 1st stage main engine cutoff (MECO)
10:55 p.m. 1st and 2nd stages separate
10:55 p.m. 2nd stage engine starts
10:56 p.m. Boostback Burn Starts
10:59 p.m. Boostback Burn Ends
10:59 p.m. 1st stage entry burn starts
11:00 p.m. 1st stage entry burn ends
11:00 p.m. 1st stage landing burn starts
11:00 p.m. 1st stage landing
11:02 p.m. 2nd stage engine cutoff (SECO-1)
11:05 p.m. Dragon separates from 2nd stage
11:06 p.m. Dragon nosecone open sequence begins
The Crew-8 and American flags fly over the iconic countdown clock near the NASA News Center at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida ahead of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-8 launch, Sunday, March 3, 2024. Photo credit: NASA Television
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):
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:
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.
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. Photo credit: SpaceX
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.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the company’s Dragon spacecraft on top is seen on the launch pad ahead of launch from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center. Photo credit: NASA Television
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.
