SpaceX launches Crew 8 to ISS for six-month science mission
Today, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket took off from Florida, carrying three American astronauts and a Russian cosmonaut, to the International Space Station (ISS) for a six-month scientific mission. The Crew Dragon capsule, called Endeavor, launched from NASA's Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral. Astronaut Matthew Dominick, the Flight Commander, said, "What an incredible ride to orbit." The crew is set to arrive at the ISS early tomorrow after a 16-hour journey.
Some facts about the Falcon 9 rocket
The two-stage Falcon 9 rocket is 25-story tall and comes packed with nine Merlin engines, for the required upward thrust. According to SpaceX, the rocket consumes 700,000 gallons of fuel every second during launch. The upper stage of the Falcon delivered the Endeavor capsule to its initial orbit in space, just nine minutes after liftoff. To note, the Crew 8 is the eighth long-duration ISS team flown aboard a SpaceX launch vehicle since May 2020.
Crew 8 members and their roles in the mission
The Crew 8 mission is led by US Navy Test Pilot Matthew Dominick (42), and NASA veteran Dr. Michael Barratt (64). He is a physician with two previous flights to the ISS and two spacewalks under his belt. Barratt is serving as the mission pilot. The team also includes astronaut Jeanette Epps (53), an aerospace engineer and ex-CIA Technical Intelligence Officer, and cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin (41), a former military aircraft engineer.
ISS operations and future plans
Crew 8 will join seven ISS residents - three Russians and four astronauts from Crew 7 - to conduct 250 tests in the microgravity environment of the orbital platform. The ISS has been operated by a US-Russian-led consortium for 25 years and was designed as a multinational project to better relations between Washington and Moscow. Despite geopolitical tensions on Earth, NASA plans to keep the space station running for at least six more years, ensuring ongoing collaboration in space exploration.
