The “Crew-8” mission, jointly conducted by the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and space transportation company SpaceX, has begun.
The Falcon-9 rocket carrying the Dragon spacecraft into orbit with NASA Astronauts Matthew Dominick, Michael Reed Barratt, Jeanette Epps and Roscosmos Cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin aboard was successfully launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 06:54 GMT.
The Falcon-9 rocket’s reusable first stage booster successfully returned to Landing Zone 1 (LZ-1) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station after launch.
The astronauts, who are expected to reach the International Space Station (ISS) after about 24 hours of travel, will conduct more than 200 scientific experiments, including new research, during the 180-day mission.
LAUNCH POSTPONED
NASA and SpaceX had aimed to launch the Crew-8 mission on February 22, but the preparation process for the Crew-8 mission was delayed due to the launch of the Intuitive Machines lunar lander from the same launch pad on March 18.
The launch, which was first postponed to February 28 to complete preparations, was later postponed to today due to weather conditions.
