Members of SpaceX Crew-8 are finally returning home after spending nearly eight months on the International Space Station (ISS).
The crew members were supposed to leave the ISS several weeks ago, but poor weather conditions at the landing site off the coast of Florida led mission planners to delay the return home. Before that, departure delays were due to measures taken to deal with Boeing's troubled Starliner spacecraft, which was docked at the station over the summer.
The Crew Dragon Endeavor carrying NASA astronauts Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt and Jeanette Epps, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin, undocked from the space station at 5:05 p.m. ET on Wednesday about 260 miles above the Land. They are expected to land around 3:30 a.m. ET on Friday. NASA will broadcast the homecoming live on NASA+.
The mission was originally supposed to last about six months, but the additional time in space caused Crew-8's Crew Dragon Endeavor to set a new record for time spent in orbit: 232 days.
Prior to this, the Crew-2 mission in 2021 held the record for longest duration in orbit for a Crew Dragon capsule. In fact, it was achieved by the same vehicle, Endeavor, which remained on the station for 197 days.
Crew-8 is undocking after spending 232 days docked with the space station – the longest mission Dragon has been in orbit to date.
-SpaceX (@SpaceX) dwe">October 23, 2024
Crew-8 mounted a Falcon 9 rocket to orbit in a launch from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on March 4, 2024.
During their stay in orbit, crew members carried out scientific research in microgravity conditions. Dominick also earned a reputation as a star space photographer, sharing some stunning images on his social media account during his time in orbit.
G6f">Source link