Crew Dragon capsule Endeavor, was launched on the Crew-8 mission to the international space station(ISS) atop a Falcon 9 at 0353 UTC on March 4, from Pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Aboard Endeavor are NASA's Matthew Dominick (commander), Michael Barratt (pilot) and Jeanette Epps (mission specialist), as well as mission specialist Alexander Grebenkin of Russia's space agency Roscosmos. All crewmembers are new to space aside from Barratt, who is making his third spaceflight.
Falcon 9 first stage separated 2.5 minutes after launch, and about five minutes after that, returned to Earth at Cape Canaveral. Then, 12 minutes and 15 seconds after liftoff, the rocket's upper stage deployed Endeavor, into low Earth orbit (LEO).
"Hey, Earth! Just to let you know, it's kind of like a rollercoaster ride with a bunch of really excited teenagers," Barratt told mission control just after Endeavor deployed into LEO. "Thanks so much to our friends and colleagues at SpaceX for the awesome ride. It's great to be back in space again!"
The Crew-8 astronauts are now on their way to the space station. Endeavor is expected to dock with the orbiting lab on Tuesday.
During their six-month stay aboard the ISS, the Crew-8 astronauts will conduct more than 200 scientific experiments and technology demonstrations in microgravity, including research that will support human exploration into deep space.
"For the past 12 years, Dragon missions have carried 1,000+ research experiments to orbit, enabling researchers the opportunity to fly critical science to orbit," SpaceX wrote on X. "The scientific research and discoveries enabled by Dragon missions help make life on Earth and in space better. If you’re interested in helping us advance the future of on-orbit research."
The Crew-8 quartet will briefly join the four international astronauts of Crew-7 before the latter group hands over the torch and gets set for their return to Earth, which will occur no earlier than March 11. Crew-8 will also rendezvous with the three members of Russia's MS-24 mission, which includes NASA astronaut Loral O'Hara.
Crew-8 marks SpaceX's 13th crewed flight overall and its eighth operational one for NASA as part of the agency's Commercial Crew Program. The company has now sent a total of 50 people to orbit. This mission also marks the company's 204th consecutive Falcon 9 first stage landing, and Endeavor's fifth flight.
"This will be Dragon Endeavour’s fifth flight, after previously flying Demo-2, Crew-2, Ax-1, and Crew-6 to the @space_station and spending 466 days on-orbit to date," SpaceX noted on X.
WATCH SpaceX launch of the crew-8 mission