SpaceX Crew-8 (Crew Dragon Endeavour)

Launch, orbit & landing data: Designation  59097 /24042A Launch date - time  04 March 2024 - 03:53:38 UTC Launch site  CCK, SLC-39A Launch vehicle  Falcon-9R (B1083.4) Spacecraft  Dragon 2 (D2 C207.3 - Endeavour) Mass (kg)  12519 kg Total cargo mass (kg)   kg Mission  8e SpaceX 4 manned launch to ISS Docking date - time  05 March 2024 - 08:00 UTC Target spacecraft/port  ISS/Harmony forward Low Earth orbit:    - Perigee / Apogee  ~400 km    - Inclination  51.65°    - Period   min Undocking date - time  02 May 2024 - 12:57 UTC Time docked  58d, 4h, 57min Redocking date - time  02 May 2024 - 13:46 UTC Target spacecraft/port  ISS/Harmony zenith Undocking date - time  23 October 2024 - 21:05 UTC Time docked  174d, 7h, 19min Deorbit burn date - time   Landing date - time  25 October 2024 - 07:29:02 UTC Landing location  29°48'40" N, 87°33,25' W (Gulf of Mexico, near Pensacola, Florida) Recovered by  MV Megan Flight Duration (d:hr:min)  235d, 3h, 35min Nbr orbits  3760 Landing crew  launch crew

Launched Crew (Exp. 70/71/72):

Launch crew: Dominick, Barrat, Epps, Grebyonkin.

Backup Crew

Description:

• SpaceX Crew-8 was the eighth crewed operational NASA Commercial Crew flight and the 13th overall crewed orbital flight of a Crew Dragon spacecraft. The mission launched on March 4, 2024.
• The Crew-8 mission transported four crew members to the International Space Station (ISS). Three NASA astronauts, Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt, and Jeanette Epps, and one Roscosmos cosmonaut, Alexander Grebenkin, were assigned to the mission.
• The Crew-8 mission was extended to accommodate problems encountered by the Boeing Crew Flight Test during its mission. The crew outfitted the Crew-8 capsule to accommodate two extra astronauts if an emergency occurred prior to Crew-9 docking on September 29, 2024.

Crew-8 astronauts prior to launch.

Falcon 9 and Crew Dragon Endeavour vertical on Launch Complex 39A in Florida

Mission details:

• ISS exp.70/71/72.
• Relocation: To make way for a Boeing Starliner as a part of the planned 6 May 2024 Boeing Crew Flight Test that would dock to the forward port of Harmony, the crew relocated Crew Dragon Endeavour to the zenith port of Harmony on 2 May 2024, docking to the zenith port at 13:46 UTC. After several delays, Starliner docked on 6 June 2024. Boeing Starliner Calypso successfully launched on 5 June 2024 and docked to the forward port of Harmony on 6 June.
• Support for Starliner CFT:
  The Boeing Crew Flight Test mission docked with the ISS on June 6, 2024, after experiencing anomalies with its thrusters. Its crew of two remained on the ISS for an unplanned extended stay, while NASA and Boeing evaluated the problems. NASA decided that the uncertainties were too high to have the crew return to Earth on Starliner, so they sent the Crew-9 mission to the ISS with a crew of two, and the Starliner crew then returned to Earth with Crew-9 in March 2025, while Starliner undocked from the ISS and made a successful uncrewed return to Earth in September 2024. This was necessary, because the ISS has only two IDSS ports shared between Dragon and Starliner. However, each ISS crewmember needs a contingency "lifeboat" in the event of an ISS emergency, and uncrewed undocking of the Starliner would leave its crew without a lifeboat. Therefore, NASA directed the crews to install two extra crew positions in the cargo area of the Crew-8 capsule to provide the lifeboat function after Starliner undocks and before Crew-9 docked.[6] Until Crew-9 arrived, they moved to SpaceX Crew-8, their temporary emergency evacuation spacecraft, and subsequently to Crew-9.
• Mission duration:
  Crew-8 was originally planned to return to Earth in early August after a nominal 180-day mission, but the mission was extended several times. It was extended initially as NASA investigated the CFT situation and again to provide the lifeboat function while Boeing worked to reconfigure Starliner to perform the uncrewed return. The NASA maximum mission time for Crew Dragon is ordinarily 210 days, but NASA extended it to 240 days for this mission. The overlap after Crew-9 arrived was slightly longer than usual to allow time to reconfigure Crew-8 and Crew-9 as the Starliner astronauts moved to Crew-9. The return of Crew-8 was delayed for several additional weeks due to poor weather conditions in the splashdown zones surrounding Florida caused by Hurricane Milton and several other storms. The cumulative delays caused Crew-8 to become the longest Dragon mission.
• Landing:
  Crew-8 undocked from the ISS on October 23, 2024, at 21:05 UTC. After completing 3,760 orbits and traveling nearly 100 million miles (160 million kilometers), Endeavour began its entry back into the Earth's atmosphere and splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico, near Pensacola, Florida on October 25, 2024, at 07:29:02 UTC (3:29:02 am EDT, local time at the landing site.
• During the parachute deploy sequence it was observed that the opening of main parachute was delayed. Additionally drogue debris strikes were observed.
• The capsule taken aboard the recovery ship MV Megan. After the crew exited the spacecraft, they were taken into the ship's onboard medical treatment facility for evaluations. After that check-up, NASA flew all of the crew members to the Ascension Sacred Heart Pensacola by helicopter for additional evaluation. One astronaut was hospitalized, but NASA declined to provide the individual's condition or identity. NASA said that the entry and splashdown was normal and the recovery of the crew and the spacecraft was without incident. The astronaut was released from the hospital the following day and was said to be in "good health".

Crew Dragon Endeavour docked to the zenith port of the Harmony module.

Crew Dragon shortly after it splashed down

External links:

• Wikipedia: Description Crew mission
• Spacefacts: Crew description
• NASA: What You Need to Know about NASA’s SpaceX Crew-8 Mission.

Astrophilately covers:

Crew 8, Endeaxour launch, CC cancel. Credit: #411