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<\/a>11 crew members now reside aboard the International Space Station<\/a> following the arrival of the SpaceX Crew-8<\/a> mission early Tuesday morning. The four new Crew-8 members will spend the next few days getting used to life on orbit as four Expedition 70<\/a> crewmates pack up for their return to Earth.<\/p>\n The SpaceX Dragon \u201cEndeavour\u201c spacecraft docked to the forward port of orbital outpost\u2019s Harmony module at 2:28 a.m. EST on Tuesday<\/a>. About an hour-and-a-half later, Crew-8 Commander Matthew Dominick<\/a>, Pilot Mike Barratt<\/a>, and Mission Specialists Jeanette Epps<\/a> and Alexander Grebenkin opened Dragon\u2019s hatch and entered Harmony officially becoming station flight engineers. Soon after, the new quartet, with the Expedition 70 septet, called down to Earth for welcome remarks.<\/p>\n Afterward, the entire crew quickly got to work first conducting a safety briefing, then unpacking new science and supplies, conducting health checks, and more. The crewmates transferred Dragon freezers containing research samples and installed them into science racks throughout the station. Tuesday\u2019s health studies included testing the inner-ear balance system, conducting eye scans with an ultrasound device, and evaluating a specialized suit\u2019s ability to help a crew member readjust to Earth\u2019s gravity.<\/p>\n The foursome will live aboard the space station for a six-month space research mission. They will take advantage of the microgravity environment to explore the mechanisms behind neurodegenerative disorders<\/a>, how spaceflight affects plant growth<\/a> to sustain crews, countering space-caused fluid shifts<\/a> that create head and eye pressure in astronauts, and the potential for algae<\/a> to improve spacecraft life support systems.<\/p>\n While Crew-8 gets up to speed with space station systems, four Expedition 70 crewmates are nearing their departure after a six-and-a-half-month mission on orbit. NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli<\/a> will lead Andreas Mogensen<\/a> of ESA (European Space Agency), Satoshi Furukawa<\/a> of JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) and Konstantin Borisov of Roscosmos back to Earth inside the SpaceX Dragon \u201cEndurance\u201d spacecraft. The homebound quartet has been aboard the station since Aug. 27, 2023<\/a>, and is expected to undock from Harmony\u2019s space-facing port no earlier than Monday, March 11.<\/p>\n The station\u2019s other three crewmates, NASA astronaut Loral O\u2019Hara<\/a> and cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub, have been aboard the station since Sept. 15<\/a>, when they docked to the Rassvet module<\/a> inside the Soyuz MS-24 crew ship. O\u2019Hara is due to return to Earth in April while Kononenko and Chub will stay in space for a few more months.<\/p>\n Learn more about station activities by following the space station blog<\/a>, @space_station<\/a> and @ISS_Research<\/a> on X, as well as the ISS Facebook<\/a> and ISS Instagram<\/a> accounts.<\/p>\n Get weekly video highlights at: https:\/\/roundupreads.jsc.nasa.gov\/videoupdate\/<\/a><\/p>\n Get the latest from NASA delivered every week. Subscribe here: www.nasa.gov\/subscribe<\/a><\/p>\n Powered by WPeMatico<\/a><\/small><\/p>\n Get The Details…<\/a><\/p>\n Abby Graf <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 11 crew members now reside aboard the International Space Station following the arrival of the SpaceX Crew-8 mission early Tuesday morning. The four new Crew-8 members will spend the next few days getting used to life on orbit as four Expedition 70 crewmates pack up for their return to Earth. The SpaceX Dragon \u201cEndeavour\u201c spacecraft \u2026 Continue reading
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