After successful launch, NASA's SpaceX Crew-8 due to dock early Tuesday with space station
During NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy's spaceflight days from 2000 to 2007, U.S. astronauts were limited to space shuttles and Russia's Soyuz rockets to reach the International Space Station.
But NASA's SpaceX Crew-8 — which launched Sunday night from Kennedy Space Center — will tackle a colorful mission featuring the arrivals of two new groundbreaking spacecraft. Boeing's CST-100 Starliner and Sierra Space's Dream Chaser cargo space plane are expected to dock with the ISS during Crew-8's six-month stay, Melroy said.
"They're quite exciting. It'll also take a lot of focus — and a lot of energy and attention — on the part of the crew. So they'll be kind of splitting their brains between the science and the ops piece, for sure," Melroy said during a FLORIDA TODAY interview.
"They have a fabulous increment. And all astronauts kind of look at, 'Oh man, that was a great mission.' So I'm sure that they're very excited about that. And so is everyone else," Melroy said.
"Because you know, getting new vehicles coming and going from station really is kind of bringing the real capability — and the promise of ISS is really coming true in so many ways," she said.
NASA officials expect Crew-8's Dragon Endeavour capsule to dock autonomously with the ISS's Harmony module about 3 a.m. Tuesday. Pilot Michael Barratt is logging his third visit to the orbiting outpost, joined by three rookies: fellow NASA astronauts Matthew Dominick (commander) and Jeanette Epps (mission specialist) with Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin (mission specialist).
Cape Canaveral: Is there a launch today? Upcoming rocket launch schedule for SpaceX, NASA in Florida
After high offshore winds and waves along Endeavour's flight path prompted crews to postpone Crew-8 launch attempts on Friday and Saturday, their SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket hurtled off pad 39A at 10:53 p.m. EST Sunday at KSC.
The Falcon 9 first-stage booster later touched down at SpaceX's Landing Zone 1 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station — generating twin sonic booms echoing across the Cape.
The Crew-8 mission marked the 14th launch thus far this year from KSC and adjacent Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The Space Coast hosted a record-breaking 72 orbital launches last year, and this year's pace is faster.
"Crew-8 will dock to the forward port of the International Space Station. They will stay docked until late August. And we have about 250 experiments in science and research, technology development as well as commercialization of low-Earth orbit," Joel Montalbano, NASA's ISS program manager, said during a post-launch news conference.
The Dragon Endeavour spacecraft previously flew the Demo-2, Crew-2, Ax-1 and Crew-6 missions to and from the ISS — logging 466 days in orbit prior to Sunday's launch, said Sarah Walker, SpaceX Dragon mission management director.
Walker characterized Sunday's launch countdown as "extremely quiet." However, she said crews worked for about 45 minutes studying a tiny defect in the capsule's hatch seal. She said this defect's estimated size measured .02 square inches.
Boeing's inaugural Starliner launch with NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams is targeted for late April from Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. They will launch atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket. It's not clear when Dream Chaser will be ready for its launch.
Waving and smiling prior to Sunday's launch, the suited-up Crew-8 astronauts walked out of NASA's Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building about 7:35 p.m., greeted family and well-wishers, and boarded two black Tesla Model Xs amid applause for transport to pad 39A.
The Teslas bore white-and-black license tags stating YAYSP8C — or "yay space."
For the latest news from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and NASA's Kennedy Space Center, visit floridatoday.com/space.
Rick Neale is a Space Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY (for more of his stories, click here.) Contact Neale at 321-242-3638 or Rneale@floridatoday.com. Twitter/X: @RickNeale1
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: SpaceX launch sends Crew-8 to Tuesday morning rendezvous with ISS
