NASA Completes Eighth Commercial Crew Mission to ISS

The four astronauts from NASA’s SpaceX-based Crew-8 mission successfully returned to earth at around 3:30 am on October 25. Their stay on the International Space Station lasted eight months; 55 days longer than originally planned.

Crew-8 launched from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center on March 3 with NASA astronauts Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt, and Jeanette Epps along with Roscosmos Cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin.

The mission was initially scheduled to last 180 days. However, due to technical issues with the Boeing Starliner capsule and the aftermath of Hurricane Milton, they were forced to stay 55 days extra. This brings their total trip to 235 days or around eight months, marking a new record for SpaceX.

The crew splashed down near Pensacola, Florida at 3:29 am on October 25. In total, they traveled almost 100 million miles across 3,760 orbits. The astronauts completed research and technology demonstrations regarding the use of stem cells for degenerative diseases, fuel temperature’s impact on flammability, and how extended space stays disturb immune functions. 

After landing, the crew was moved to Ascension Sacred Heart Pensacola to receive health evaluations “out of an abundance of caution,” NASA stated. One of the crew members, whose identity remains unknown for privacy reasons, reportedly experienced a medical issue and was forced to remain at Ascension for monitoring. The other three were released and made their way to the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.

The Dragon spacecraft will be returning to SpaceX’s Cape Canaveral facilities to be inspected and renovated for upcoming missions.

The trip was NASA’s eighth set of Commercial Crew missions to the ISS. This program aims to create reliable and cost-efficient space operations by employing private manufacturer’s spacecraft and launch systems. The current participants in the program are Boeing and SpaceX.

FMI: www.nasa.gov, www.spacex.com