UPDATE 1: SpaceX and NASA are now targeting no earlier than Saturday, March 2 for Falcon 9’s launch of Dragon’s eighth operational human spaceflight mission (Crew-8) to the International Space Station from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The instantaneous launch window is at 11:16 p.m. ET, with a backup opportunity available on Sunday, March 3 at 10:53 p.m. ET
A live webcast of this mission will begin on X @SpaceX about one hour prior to launch. Watch live.
“Joint teams selected the updated launch opportunity due to unfavorable weather conditions forecast for Friday, March 1, in offshore areas along the flight track of the Dragon spacecraft. High wind and waves along the eastern seaboard have been observed and are forecast to continue through Saturday morning,” the blog post said.
“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,” the post said.
The Dragon spacecraft supporting this mission previously flew the Demo-2, Crew-2, Ax-1, and Crew-6 missions to and from the space station. Following stage separation, Falcon 9’s first stage will land on Landing Zone 1 (LZ-1) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
During their time on the orbiting laboratory, the crew will conduct over 200 scientific experiments and technology demonstrations, including new research to prepare human exploration beyond low-Earth orbit and benefit humanity on Earth. SpaceX Crew-8 is the eighth crewed operational flight of a Crew Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program.
Matthew Dominick
- Birthday: 12/07/1981
- Role: Commander
- Nationality: American
Matthew Stuart Dominick is a US Navy test pilot and a NASA astronaut of the class of 2017. He has more than 1,600 hours of flight time in 28 aircraft, 400 carrier-arrested landings, 61 combat missions, and almost 200 flight test carrier landings.
Michael Barratt
- Birthday: 04/16/1959
- Role: Pilot
- Nationality: American
- First Flight: 03/26/2009
- Last Flight: 02/24/2011
Michael Reed Barratt is an American physician and a NASA astronaut. Specializing in aerospace medicine, he served as a flight surgeon for NASA before his selection as an astronaut, and has played a role in developing NASA’s space medicine programs for both the Shuttle-Mir Program and International Space Station. His first spaceflight was a long-duration mission to the International Space Station, as a Flight Engineer in the Expedition 19 and 20 crew. In March 2011, Barratt completed his second spaceflight as a crew member of STS-133.
Alexander Grebenkin
- Birthday: 07/15/1982
- Role: Mission Specialist
- Nationality: Russian
Alexander Grebenkin is a Russian cosmonaut with a background in radio communications engineering.
Jeanette J. Epps
- Birthday: 11/03/1970
- Role: Mission Specialist
- Nationality: American
Jeanette Jo Epps is an American aerospace engineer and NASA astronaut.
NASA readies for SpaceX’s launch of 4 astronauts
SpaceX and NASA are targeting no earlier than Friday, March 1 for Falcon 9’s launch of Dragon’s eighth operational human spaceflight mission (Crew-8) to the International Space Station from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The instantaneous launch window is at 12:04 a.m. ET, with a backup opportunity available the same day at 11:41 p.m. ET.
A live webcast of this mission will begin on X @SpaceX about one hour prior to launch. Watch live.
The Dragon spacecraft supporting this mission previously flew the Demo-2, Crew-2, Ax-1, and Crew-6 missions to and from the space station. Following stage separation, Falcon 9’s first stage will land on Landing Zone 1 (LZ-1) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
During their time on the orbiting laboratory, the crew will conduct over 200 scientific experiments and technology demonstrations, including new research to prepare human exploration beyond low-Earth orbit and benefit humanity on Earth.