NASA+ is Live as Crew-8 Prepares to Undock in Dragon
The Milky Way appears in the vastness of space behind the SpaceX Dragon Endeavour spacecraft docked to the space station’s Harmony module.
NASA’s live coverage of undocking is now underway on NASA+ and the agency’s website. Learn how to watch NASA content through a variety of platforms, including social media.
At 3:24 p.m. EDT, hatches between the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft and the International Space Station closed in preparation for undocking and return to Earth of NASA astronauts Matt Dominick, Mike Barratt, and Jeanette Epps, along with Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin.
The spacecraft will undock from the orbiting laboratory’s Harmony module at 5:05 p.m., heading for a targeted splashdown at approximately 3:29 a.m. Friday, Oct. 25, off the coast of Florida. NASA will provide coverage of deorbit burn, entry, and splashdown at beginning 2:15 a.m. on NASA+ and the agency’s website.
Crew-8 Closes Dragon Hatch, Prepares for Undocking
NASA’s SpaceX Crew-8 members pose for a photo inside the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft during training on January 2024. From left are, Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin and NASA astronauts Mike Barratt, Matthew Dominick, and Jeanette Epps. Credit: SpaceX
At 3:24 p.m. EDT, the hatch closed between the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft and the International Space Station in preparation for the return of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-8 mission.
NASA’s undocking coverage begins at 4:45 p.m. on NASA+ and the agency’s website. The spacecraft will autonomously undock from the orbiting laboratory at approximately 5:05 p.m. to begin the return to Earth. Learn how to watch NASA content through a variety of platforms, including social media.
Following the conclusion of undocking coverage, NASA will switch to real-time audio-only before return coverage resumes at 2:15 a.m. Friday, Oct. 25 on NASA+ and the agency’s website.
The SpaceX Crew-8 members are pictured inside the SpaceX Dragon Endeavour spacecraft after arriving on March 5, 2024. From left are, Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin and NASA astronauts Mike Barratt, Jeanette Epps, and Matthew Dominick.
NASA’s live coverage is underway on NASA+ and the agency’s website ahead of hatch closure and undocking preparations for the return of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-8 mission. Learn how to stream NASA content through a variety of platforms, including social media.
NASA astronauts Matt Dominick, Mike Barratt, and Jeanette Epps, along with Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin will close the hatch at 3:20 p.m. EDT Wednesday, Oct. 23, between the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft and the International Space Station.
NASA will provide live undocking coverage beginning at 4:45 p.m. on NASA+ and the agency’s website.
The spacecraft will autonomously undock from the space station at 5:05 p.m. to begin the 34-hour return to Earth. NASA and SpaceX are targeting splashdown at approximately 3:29 a.m. Friday, Oct. 25 off the coast of Florida.
As part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, the Crew-8 mission will return important and time-sensitive research to Earth. The crew launched March 3 on the Dragon spacecraft aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida and will have completed a seven-month science expedition aboard the orbiting laboratory.
NASA, SpaceX Target Wednesday for Crew-8 Departure
Astronaut Matthew Dominick points his camera out a window on the cupola as the space station orbited above the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Africa.
NASA and SpaceX mission managers are now targeting Wednesday, Oct. 23, for the departure of the Dragon Endeavour spacecraft and its four Crew-8 members. Weather conditions are improving off the coast of Florida but officials will wait for one more weather report scheduled for early Wednesday before choosing a final undocking time and splashdown location for the Commercial Crew quartet.
NASA astronauts Matthew Dominick, Mike Barratt, and Jeanette Epps, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin are nearing the end of a seven-and-a-half month space research mission that began with a launch aboard Dragon on March 3. Dominick will command the spacecraft, leading Barratt as pilot with Epps and Grebenkin as mission specialists, back to Earth for a parachute-assisted splashdown on Friday at a site and time yet to be chosen.
The homebound foursome woke up late again on Tuesday sleep shifting to accommodate the after-hours undocking activities. Expedition 72 Commander Suni Williams and Flight Engineers Butch Wilmore, Don Pettit, and Nick Hague, all NASA astronauts, also woke up late as they prepare to assist the Crew-8 members and ready the International Space Station for Dragon’s undocking.
The three cosmonauts staying behind on the orbital lab, Flight Engineers Alexey Ovchinin, Ivan Vagner, and Aleksandr Gorbunov, kept a normal schedule on Tuesday staying focused on space science and orbital maintenance. Ovchinin and Vagner took turns in the morning attaching sensors to themselves measuring their breathing rate. Afterward, Ovchinin observed the effects of natural and human impacts on Earth using a hyperspectrometer while Vagner packed trash inside the Progress 88 resupply ship. Gorbunov attached sensors to himself for a 24-hour session measuring his heart rate and blood pressure then serviced ventilation components in the Nauka science module.
Crew-8 Waits for Weather to Improve as Station Crew Adjusts
The space station is pictured from the SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavour during its departure and flyaround on Nov. 8, 2021.
Mission officials continue monitoring weather conditions off the coast of Florida and have decided to wave off Monday night’s undocking of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-8 mission to no earlier than 9:05 p.m. EDT on Tuesday.
Crew-8 members Matthew Dominick, Mike Barratt, Jeanette Epps, all three from NASA, and Alexander Grebenkin from Roscosmos woke up late Monday having shifted their sleep schedules in anticipation of Monday’s departure. However, the Commercial Crew quartet spent the rest of the day continuing their daily exercise routines and standard housekeeping tasks aboard the orbiting lab. The four SpaceX Dragon Endeavour crewmates will continue their sleep shifts through Tuesday morning when they receive the next weather briefing to determine their next undocking and splashdown opportunities.
Expedition 72 Commander Suni Williams and Flight Engineers Butch Wilmore, Nick Hague, and Don Pettit also slept in on Monday having been previously scheduled to assist their departing crewmates. The four NASA astronauts worked a light duty day on Monday and will maintain their adjusted sleep shifts in readiness for Tuesday’s targeted departure of the Crew-8 mission.
The station’s three other cosmonauts from Roscosmos, Alexey Ovchinin, Ivan Vagner, and Aleksandr Gorbunov, remained focused throughout Monday on their contingent of microgravity research and orbital maintenance. Ovchinin started his day replacing life support components in the Zvezda service module before wrapping up his shift imaging with a hyperspectrometer the effects of natural and human impacts on Earth. Vagner packed trash and obsolete gear inside the Progress 88 resupply ship ahead of its mid-November departure. Gorbunov downloaded data collected from radiation detectors then inspected and cleaned laptop computers inside the Nauka science module.
