SpaceX Crew-8 explained

SpaceX Crew-8 is the eighth crewed operational NASA Commercial Crew flight and the 13th overall crewed orbital flight of a Crew Dragon spacecraft.^[4] The mission launched on 4 March 2024.^[5]

The Crew-8 mission transports four crew members to the International Space Station (ISS). Three NASA astronauts, Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt, and Jeanette Epps, and one Roscosmos cosmonaut, Alexander Grebenkin, were assigned to the mission. Jeanette Epps was previously assigned to Boeing Starliner missions.^{[6] [7]}

Mission

The eighth SpaceX operational mission in the Commercial Crew Program launched at 3:53 UTC on 4 March 2024.^[8] SpaceX sent the 50th astronaut on this Crew Dragon launch.^[9]

Launch attempt

Following delays due to unfavorable weather conditions in offshore areas of the flight path,^{[10] [11]} the first launch attempt was scrubbed at T−03:25:38 hours due to elevated ascent winds (times are UTC).^{[12] [13]}

Relocation

To make way for a Boeing Starliner as a part of the Boeing Crew Flight Test that would dock to the forward port of Harmony on 6 June 2024, the crew relocated to the zenith port of Harmony on 2 May 2024, docking to the zenith port at 13:46 UTC.^[14] successfully launched on 5 June 2024 and docked to the forward port of Harmony on 6 June.^[15]

Notes and References

1. Web site: Crew-8 Launch to Dock Summary Timeline . 31 July 2024 . en-US.
2. News: Parra . Marissa . Cohen . Rebecca . 4 March 2024 . SpaceX, NASA successfully launch manned Crew-8 mission to International Space Station . . Cape Canaveral, Florida . 4 March 2024.
3. Web site: Crew-8 Mission Overview . . n.d. . . National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) . 3 March 2024 . Crew-8 will dock to the forward-facing port of the Harmony module.
4. Web site: 31 January 2024 . NASA, SpaceX Target NET Feb. 22 to Launch Crew-8 – NASA's SpaceX Crew-8 Mission . 1 February 2024 . blogs.nasa.gov . en-US.
5. Web site: NASA's SpaceX Crew-8 – NASA . 13 February 2024 . en-US.
6. Web site: 26 January 2024 . What You Need to Know about NASA's SpaceX Crew-8 Mission – NASA . 1 February 2024 . en-US.
7. Web site: 30 January 2024 . NASA Astronaut from Syracuse is ready for liftoff . 1 February 2024 . WXXI News . en.
8. Web site: NASA's SpaceX Crew-8 – NASA .
9. Web site: 50 crewmembers launched and counting! Earlier tonight, Crew-8 signed the White Room at the end of the crew access arm ahead of boarding Dragon and liftoff . X (Formerly Twitter).
10. News: Malik . Tariq . 28 February 2024 . SpaceX delays Crew-8 astronaut launch for NASA to March 2 due to bad weather . Space.com . 5 March 2024.
11. NASA Commercial Crew . Commercial Crew Program . Commercial_Crew . 1763078294931468399 . 29 February 2024 . Teams with @NASA and @SpaceX now are targeting March 2 for the launch of the agency's #Crew8 mission to @Space_Station due to unfavorable weather conditions in offshore areas along the flight track of the Dragon spacecraft . en . 5 March 2024.
12. News: Malik . Tariq . 3 March 2024 . SpaceX delays Crew-8 astronaut launch for NASA due to high winds, next try on March 3 . Space.com . 4 March 2024.
13. News: Neale . Rick . Haris . Bianca . 2 March 2024 . NASA SpaceX launch: Crew-8's mission from Cape Canaveral scrubbed over weather conditions . USA Today . 5 March 2024.
14. Web site: SpaceX's Crew-8 astronauts move Dragon at the ISS to make way for Boeing's Starliner . Wall . Mike . 2 May 2024 . . Future US, Inc. . 2 May 2024 . Endeavour autonomously docked with Harmony's space-facing port, Zenith, at 9:46 a.m. EDT (1346 GMT)..
15. Web site: Starliner docks with International Space Station on crewed test flight . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240608034353/https://spacenews.com/starliner-docks-with-international-space-station-on-crewed-test-flight/ . 8 June 2024 . 6 June 2024.