BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. – A new launch date is set for Crew-8 after SpaceX and NASA decided to delay the next space station mission from Florida’s Space Coast.
SpaceX announced early Thursday that the upcoming Crew-8 mission will take off from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39 at 11:16 p.m. Saturday, March 2.
The change was made due to high winds in the Falcon 9 rocket’s ascent corridor, SpaceX said on social media.
News 6 Meteorologist Jonathan Kegges recently discussed the weekend’s unsettled launch weather during his “Weather Wise” show.
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Crew-8, a team of four, will spend six months at the International Space Station, focusing on more than 200 science experiments, including studies of motion sickness and human movement in microgravity.
That crew — comprised of three NASA astronauts and one Roscosmos cosmonaut — was announced earlier this month:
- NASA astronaut Matthew Dominick — Commander
- NASA astronaut Michael Barratt — Pilot
- NASA astronaut Jeanette Epps — Mission Specialist
- Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin — Mission Specialist
The SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavour capsule being used in Crew-8 previously supported the Demo-2, Crew-2 and Crew-6 flights, as well as Axiom Mission 1. After stage separation, the Falcon 9 rocket’s first stage will touch down at Landing Zone 1 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
ClickOrlando.com will stream the launch live when coverage begins.
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