Name: NASA, SpaceX Launch Crew-8 Mission to International Space Station
Uploaded: 2024-03-04T17:29:40.000Z
Description: CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida—A SpaceX rocket safely lifted off from Florida on Sunday night carrying a crew of three U.S. astronauts and a Russian cosmonaut on their way to the International Space Station (ISS) to begin a six-month science mission in Earth orbit.

Bringing you the latest videos, livestreams, and premieres.


NTD Video

NTD Plus

Label

Live

NTD+ Live

Rubio Attends Freedom 250 Reception in India

Scene of a Shooting Incident Outside White House

Hegseth Gives Commencement Address at West Point Class of 2026 Graduation Ceremony

Trump Delivers Remarks at Campaign Event for Rep. Mike Lawler in New York

Rubio Holds Press Gaggle

West Point Holds Class of 2026 Graduation Parade

Trump Swears in Kevin Warsh as Fed Chair

Bringing you the latest videos, livestreams, and premieres.

Epoch Video

Transportation Secretary Speaks at International Maritime Day Ceremony

CPDC Webinar Assesses Trump–Xi Summit Aftermath

Live From Los Angeles: Red Carpet, Premiere Screening, Q&A for UNBROKEN: The Untold Story of Shen Yun

The Associated Press is an American not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. 

The Associated Press

News

US News

State News

California

More Than 17,000 Under Evacuation Orders as Southern California Wildfire Threatens Homes

Joseph Lord is a congressional reporter for The Epoch Times.


Joseph Lord

Aldgra Fredly is a freelance writer covering U.S. and Asia Pacific news for The Epoch Times.

Aldgra Fredly

Former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani Hospitalized in Critical Condition: Spokesman

NTD Newsroom comprises teams of reporters, editors, and producers assigned to cover breaking news and other stories.


NTD Newsroom

News you can trust from the U.S. and around the world. Critical information and insight. We cover the stories that others don’t. NTD News Today airs Monday–Friday at 11 a.m. ET.

NTD News Today

US Warns of China Hacks via Routers, Smart Devices

Juliet Song is an international correspondent exclusively covering China news for NTD. She primarily contributes to NTD's "China in Focus," covering U.S.-China relations, the Chinese regime's human rights abuses, and domestic unrest inside China.

Juliet Song

Fast, compelling, first-hand news from China. China in Focus airs Monday–Friday at 8 p.m. ET.

China in Focus

2 Americans Among Suspected Communist Rebels Killed in Clashes With Troops, Philippine Officials Say

Ryan Morgan is a reporter for The Epoch Times focusing on military and foreign affairs. He was previously a news writer for NTD. 


Ryan Morgan

Mari Otsu is NTD's White House correspondent based in Washington. 

Mari Otsu

World News

Middle East

Iran

3 US Warships Fend Off Iranian Attacks, Trump Says Ceasefire Still Holds

US Government Sues Chick-fil-A Over Religious Rights

Health News

3 Dead in Suspected Hantavirus Outbreak on Cruise Ship in Atlantic Ocean: WHO

Haika Mrema

Medical Plane Crash in New Mexico Mountains Kills 4, Sparks Wildfire

Rudy Blalock is a Southern California-based daily news reporter for NTD. Originally from Michigan, he moved to California in 2017 and the sunshine and ocean have kept him here since. In his free time, he may be found underwater scuba diving, on top of a mountain hiking or snowboarding, or at home meditating—which helps fuel his active lifestyle.

Rudy Blalock

Sports News

Kyle Busch, Two-Time NASCAR Champion, Dies at 41

India Responds to Trump’s Repost of Birthright Citizenship Comment

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida—A SpaceX rocket safely lifted off from Florida on Sunday night carrying a crew of three U.S. astronauts and a Russian cosmonaut on their way to the International Space Station (ISS) to begin a six-month science mission in Earth orbit.

The two-stage Falcon 9 rocket topped with an autonomously operated Crew Dragon capsule dubbed Endeavor was launched from NASA's Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, along Florida's Atlantic coast, at 10:53 p.m. EST (0353 GMT Monday).

A live NASA-SpaceX webcast showed the 25-story-tall rocketship ascending from the launch tower as its nine Merlin engines roared to life in billowing clouds of vapor and a reddish fireball that lit up the night sky. The rocket consumes 700,000 gallons of fuel per second during launch, according to SpaceX.

The Falcon's upper stage delivered Endeavor to its initial orbit nine minutes after liftoff, with live video from the cabin showing the four crew members strapped in side by side garbed in their helmeted white-and-black flight suits.

"What an incredible ride to orbit," astronaut Matthew Dominick, 42, the flight commander and one of three spaceflight rookies aboard the capsule, radioed to control outside of Los Angeles. "A big thank-you to SpaceX."

"Really honored to fly this new-generation spaceship with this new-generation crew," NASA veteran Dr. Michael Barratt, 64, chimed in from his seat beside Dominick.

The four crew members were scheduled to reach the space station early on Tuesday after a 16-hour flight, docking with the orbital laboratory some 250 miles (420 km) above Earth.

Designated Crew 8, the mission marks the eighth long-duration ISS team that NASA has flown aboard a SpaceX launch vehicle since the private rocket venture founded in 2002 by billionaire Elon Musk and headquartered near Los Angeles began sending U.S. astronauts to orbit in May 2020.

The latest ISS crew was led by Mr. Dominick, a U.S. Navy test pilot making his first trip to orbit, and Dr. Barratt, a physician who has logged two previous flights to the space station and two spacewalks. Dr. Barratt is serving as a mission pilot.

Rounding out the team are fellow NASA astronaut Jeanette Epps, 53, an aerospace engineer and former technical intelligence officer for the CIA, and cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin, 41, a former military aircraft engineer. Both he and Ms. Epps, like Mr. Dominick, are spaceflight rookies.

Mr. Grebenkin is the latest cosmonaut to fly aboard a U.S. spacecraft under a ride-sharing deal signed in 2022 by NASA and the Russian space agency Roscosmos, despite heightened tensions between Washington and Moscow over Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Crew 8 will be welcomed aboard the space station by seven current ISS occupants—three Russians and the four astronauts of Crew 7, two from NASA, one from Japan, and one from Denmark. The Crew 7 team is expected to depart the space station for a flight back to Earth about a week after Crew 8's arrival.

Crew 8 is expected to remain aboard the space station until the end of August, collectively performing about 250 experiments in the microgravity environment of the orbital platform.

The ISS, about the length of a football field and the largest human-made object in space, has been continuously operated by a U.S.–Russian-led consortium that includes Canada, Japan, and 11 European countries.

The first hardware for the outpost was launched 25 years ago. It was conceived in part as a multinational venture designed to improve relations between Washington and Moscow following the Soviet Union's collapse and the end of Cold War rivalries that gave rise to the original U.S.–Soviet space race in the 1950s and 1960s.

NASA has said it is committed to keeping the space station in operation for at least six more years.

Latest

Science &amp; Tech

NASA

SPACEX

Videos

04_Top Stories

Events

Reuters is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages.

Reuters

NASA, SpaceX Launch Crew-8 Mission to International Space Station

Trump Holds ‘Get Out the Vote’ Rally in Richmond, Virginia

Moms for America 20th Anniversary Celebration—Day 3 Afternoon Program Featuring Sebastian Gorka

Trump Rallies in Greensboro, North Carolina

Moms for America 20th Anniversary Celebration—Day 3 Morning Program Featuring Michael Flynn, Sam Sorbo, Dr. Simone Gold, and More

News with integrity, from the U.S. and around the world. Focused reports and analyses that shed light on major issues the world deserves to know. NTD Evening News airs daily at 6 p.m. ET.

NTD Evening News

NTD Evening News Full Broadcast (March 1)

Moms for America 20th Anniversary Gala Featuring John Rich

The Capitol Report is a political news show based in Washington D.C. We provide the world with a direct channel to the voices and people who shape policy in America. Capitol Report features all of the political news of the day with expert interviews and analysis.