« All Events

  • This event has passed.

CONFIRMED

CREW-8 RETURN, Oct 23-25, 2024, Earth Orbit/Florida coast, Oct 23 5:05 pm ET undock; Oct 25 3:29 am ET splashdown

Update, October 24:  The splashdown time has been refined by one minute. It’s scheduled for 3:29 am ET tomorrow (Friday).  NASA+ coverage begins at 2:15 am ET.  The audio-only post-splashdown media teleconference is still at 5:00 am ET.

Update, October 23:  Crew-8 finally has the go-ahead to undock at 5:05 pm ET today, with splashdown on Friday, Oct 25, at about 3:30 am ET.

A post-splashdown press conference is scheduled for 5:00 am ET Friday.  The full list of NASA coverage is as follows:

Wednesday, Oct. 23

3 p.m. – Hatch closure coverage begins on NASA+

3:20 p.m. – Hatch closing

4:45 p.m. – Undocking coverage begins on NASA+

5:05 p.m. – Undocking

Following the conclusion of undocking, NASA coverage will switch to audio only.

Pending weather conditions at the splashdown sites, continuous coverage will resume Friday, Oct. 25, on NASA+ prior to the start of deorbit burn.

Friday, Oct. 25

2:15 a.m. – Return coverage begins on NASA+

2:39 a.m. – Deorbit burn (time is approximate)

3:29 a.m. – Splashdown (time is approximate)

5 a.m. – Return to Earth media teleconference will stream live on the agency’s YouTube channel, with the following participants:

  • Richard Jones, deputy manager, NASA’s Commercial Crew Program
  • Bill Spetch, operations and integration manager, NASA’s International Space Station Program
  • SpaceX representative

 

Update, October 22: Another delay. Now targeting October 23 at 5:00 pm ET for undocking. Splashdown would be on Friday if that holds.  Still tentative.


Update, October 21: Crew-8’s return has been delayed again. For the moment, NASA has pushed undocking to Tuesday, October 22, at 9:05 pm ET (instead of Monday), but the forecast does not sound promising for Tuesday or Wednesday.


Update, October 20:  NASA says there is a marginal improvement in the weather so they will proceed with the plan to undock tomorrow, Monday, at 9:05 pm ET, but will not make a final decision until the next weather briefing at 9:00 am ET tomorrow.  If they do undock Monday evening, they will splashdown at 12:55 pm ET on Tuesday, October 22.

Update, October 19:  The weather is STILL poor. Undocking has been pushed at least to 9:05 pm ET on Monday (from 3:05 am) if the weather improves.

Update, October 18:  NASA says the weather CONTINUES to be poor and Crew-8 will not undock at least until Monday, October 21, at 3:05 am ET.

Update, October 16:  NASA says the weather continues to be poor and Crew-8 will not undock at least until Sunday, October 20.

Update, October 14, 4:30 pm ET:  NASA says that weather conditions remain poor for the next several days and the earliest they will undock is Friday, Oct 18, at 3:05 am ET.

Update, October 13, 7:05 am:  NASA just posted on X that the undocking has been delayed due to weather. The next weather briefing is tomorrow, October 14, at 11:00 am, so it won’t before then.


Update, October 11:  The new plan is undocking at 7:05 am ET on Sunday, October 13, with splashdown more than 20 hours later on Monday, October 14, at 3:38 pm ET.  A post splashdown media telecon is scheduled for 5:15 pm ET.

NASA coverage of these events is as follows:

For the planned Oct. 13 undocking, NASA’s live return operations coverage is as follows (all times Eastern and subject to change based on real-time operations):

Sunday, Oct. 13

5 a.m. – Hatch closure coverage begins on NASA+

5:30 a.m. – Hatch closing

6:45 a.m. – Undocking coverage begins on NASA+

7:05 a.m. – Undocking

Following the conclusion of undocking, NASA coverage will switch to audio only.

Pending weather conditions at the splashdown sites, continuous coverage will resume Oct. 14, on NASA+ prior to the start of deorbit burn.

Monday, Oct. 14

2:30 p.m. – Return coverage begins on NASA+

2:53 p.m. – Deorbit burn (time is approximate)

3:38 p.m. – Splashdown (time is approximate)

5:15 p.m. – Return to Earth media teleconference with the following participants:

  • Richard Jones, deputy manager, NASA’s Commercial Crew Program
  • Bill Spetch, operations and integration manager, NASA’s International Space Station Program
  • William Gerstenmaier, vice president, Build & Flight Reliability, SpaceX

Update, October 7, 7:20 pm ET:  NASA now says undocking will occur no earlier than Sunday, October 13, at 3:05 am ET, because of the anticipated effects of Hurricane Milton, a category 5 storm in the Gulf of Mexico expected to reach Florida’s west coast on Wedsenday and impact most of the peninsula and surrounding waters thereafter.

Update, October 6, 12:00 pm ET:  NASA has postponed undocking until no earlier than October 10 at 3:05 am ET because of weather.


Original entry: Crew-8 is getting ready to return to Earth from the International Space Station.

The exact timing of their departure from the ISS and splasdown off the Florida coast, either in the Atlantic or Gulf of Mexico, is weather dependent and hurricanes are a problem right now.

As of October 6, NASA is targeting undocking on Tuesday, October 8, at 3:05 am ET. According to the NASA broadcast schedule, splashdown will be just a few hours later. It doesn’t say when, but NASA coverage of deorbit burn and splashdown will begin at 8:15 am ET.

That is tentative, however. We will post more information here as we get it.

+ Google Calendar+ Add to iCalendar

Details

Start:
October 23, 2024 @ 4:00 pm
End:
October 25, 2024 @ 11:00 pm
Last Updated: Oct 24, 2024 4:39 pm ET

SPACEPOLICYONLINE.COM

About | Contact | Privacy