After an extended stay of nearly eight months at the International Space Station (ISS), SpaceX’s Crew-8 mission is finally returning to Earth. The four astronauts – NASA astronauts Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt, and Jeanette Epps, along with Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin – bid farewell to the orbiting laboratory on Wednesday afternoon.
Their homecoming was initially scheduled for several weeks ago, but challenging weather conditions at the splashdown site off the coast of Florida forced mission planners to postpone the return. Prior to that, delays were also caused by efforts to address issues with Boeing’s troubled Starliner spacecraft, which was docked at the station over the summer.
The Crew Dragon Endeavour, carrying the crew, undocked from the ISS at 5:05 p.m. ET on Wednesday, around 260 miles above Earth. Their journey back home is expected to culminate in a splashdown off the coast of Florida around 3:30 a.m. ET on Friday. NASA will be livestreaming the homecoming on NASA+, allowing the public to witness the safe return of the crew.
This mission, initially planned for a duration of six months, extended to a remarkable eight months, enabling Crew-8 to achieve a new record. The Crew Dragon Endeavour’s time in orbit, clocking in at 232 days, surpassed the previous record set by the same vehicle during the Crew-2 mission in 2021, which lasted 197 days.
Crew-8 embarked on their mission on March 4, 2024, launching atop a Falcon 9 rocket from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. During their extended stay in space, the crew members diligently conducted scientific research under microgravity conditions. Dominick, in particular, distinguished himself as an accomplished space photographer, sharing breathtaking images captured from orbit on his social media accounts, captivating space enthusiasts worldwide.
As Crew-8’s journey back to Earth draws to a close, the world eagerly anticipates their safe return and the wealth of scientific data and captivating images they have brought back from their record-breaking sojourn in space.