NASA Crew-8 Returns After Seven Months in Space

NASA's Crew-8 mission, which includes astronauts Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt, Jeanette Epps, and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin, has undocked from the International Space Station (ISS) and is set to splash down in the Gulf of Mexico early Friday after an extended 236-day mission. The Crew Dragon spacecraft, Endeavour, faced multiple delays due to unfavorable weather, including Hurricane Milton, which initially postponed their return from early September. The mission involved conducting over 200 scientific experiments and technology demonstrations, furthering research on antibiotic resistance, immune function, and bioprinting. With their departure, the ISS's crew size will decrease from 11 to 7, as they were temporarily joined by Crew-9 members who arrived on September 29. The Crew-8 astronauts are expected to land around 3:29 a.m. EDT Friday off the Florida coast, concluding a journey that covered approximately 3,776 orbits and 100 million miles since their launch from Kennedy Space Center on March 3.