NASA and SpaceX readies Crew-8 mission for Early March (Updated)

March 2, 2024, at 20:10 EST – SpaceX is standing down from tonight’s Crew-8 mission launch due to elevated winds in Dragon’s ascent corridor. It is now turned to the reserve day (on March 3) at 10:53 ET.

February 29, 2024, at 04:41 EST – SpaceX has rescheduled the mission to March 2 at 11:16 p.m. ET and a backup launch opportunity is available on March 3 at 10:53 ET.

February 27, 2024 at 09:05 EST – NASA and SpaceX are ready to send Crew-8 human spaceflight mission to the International Space Station (ISS) on March 1 from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The mission liftoff window will open at 12:04 a.m. ET and a backup launch window will be available at 11:41 p.m. ET. Earlier in the morning, SpaceX completed the static fire test of the Falcon 9 rocket.

The forecast suggests that the weather will be clear in the day for both February 29 and March 1 but there could be some clouds and winds that may appear at night.

Image Credit: SpaceX

The first stage used in this mission attended its fifth flight and previously supported Demo-2, Crew-2, Ax-1, and Crew-6 missions. After the first stage of separation, SpaceX will land the booster on Landing Zone 1 (LZ-1) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

The second stage will host astronauts using the Dragon spacecraft and the crew will perform over 200 scientific experiments and technology demonstrations at the space station. These include research about future human lights beyond Earth’s orbit.

(source – SpaceX)