SpaceX’s Crew-8 members are finally on their way home after spending nearly eight months at the International Space Station (ISS).
The crew members were supposed to depart the ISS several weeks ago but poor weather conditions at the splashdown site off the coast of Florida prompted mission planners to delay the homecoming. Prior to that, delays to departure were caused by measures to deal with Boeing’s troubled Starliner spacecraft, which was docked at the station over the summer.
The Crew Dragon Endeavour 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 Earth. They’re expected to splash down at around 3:30 a.m. ET on Friday. NASA will livestream the homecoming on NASA+.
The mission was originally supposed to last about six months, but the extra time in space saw Crew-8’s Crew Dragon Endeavour set a new record for time spent in orbit: 232 days.
Before this, the Crew-2 mission in 2021 held the record for the longest duration in orbit for a Crew Dragon capsule. It was actually achieved by the same vehicle, Endeavour, which stayed at the station for 197 days.
Crew-8 is undocking after spending 232 days docked to the space station – the longest mission Dragon has spent on-orbit to-date
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) October 23, 2024
Crew-8 rode a Falcon 9 rocket to orbit in a launch from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on March 4, 2024.
During their time in orbit, the crew members carried out science research in microgravity conditions. Dominick also earned a reputation as an ace space photographer, sharing some stunning images on his social media account during his time in orbit.