SpaceX’s Crew-8 Returns NASA Astronauts To Earth After 7 Months

Topline

SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft splashed down off the Florida coast Friday, returning a crew of Russian and American astronauts who spent seven months aboard the International Space Station following a series of delays and issues with Boeing’s Starliner capsule.

Key Facts

The Dragon spacecraft for SpaceX’s mission, named Crew-8, splashed down around 3:30 a.m. EDT on Friday after undocking from the International Space Station late Wednesday.

Onboard Dragon are NASA’s Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt and Jeanette Epps and Alexander Grebenkin from Russia’s space agency Roscomos, each of whom arrived at the ISS on March 5.

The crew was scheduled to return in mid-August, according to NASA, though the mission was extended so the Dragon spacecraft could be used by NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams if an evacuation from the ISS was necessary.

Wilmore and Williams arrived at the ISS aboard Starliner in June, though the spacecraft returned unmanned to Earth in September after a series of technical issues prevented the two astronauts from using it.

Crew-8’s return flight was also delayed multiple times because of Hurricane Milton, which caused NASA to call off an undocking attempt on Oct. 7, and other inclement weather around the splashdown sites off the Florida coast.

What To Watch For

NASA announced in August it would cut the roster for SpaceX’s Crew-9 mission—which launched toward the ISS on Sept. 24—so that Williams and Wilmore could return to Earth at the mission’s end. The crew, including Williams and Wilmore, are scheduled to return with NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov in February 2025.

Key Background

The Crew-8 mission marked SpaceX’s 13th mission carrying people and the eighth time NASA employed the Elon Musk-owned firm to fly a crew to the ISS. NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said the crew would conduct more than 200 science experiments and technology demonstrations on the orbiting station to help prepare for further human space exploration. The astronauts experimented using stem cells to study degenerative diseases, studied the effects of microgravity and UV radiation on plants and whether pressure cuffs could reduce health issues in astronauts. NASA has other crewed missions planned aboard SpaceX spacecraft, including Crew-10, which the agency said is expected to launch no earlier than February 2025. A Crew-11 mission is expected no earlier than July 2025, the agency said.

Further Reading

NASA And SpaceX Blast Off To International Space Station (Forbes)