Photo: NASA
NASA has announced that they are scheduling Crew-8 from the International Space Station today so that the four astronauts comprising the crew can begin their return to Earth.
NASA and SpaceX are targeting 5:05pm ET TONIGHT, Oct. 23, for the Dragon spacecraft named Endeavour to undock from Space Station. Endeavour and its crew will splashdown off the coast of Florida approximately 34 hours later on Friday, Oct. 25.
Forecasters have seen improvement in expected weather at some of the landing sites off the coast of Florida and continue to monitor conditions while considering splashdown sites and exact timing.
NASA, October 22, 2024
The agency added that there is another weather briefing this morning. The specific splashdown location has not been announced, but will either be in Florida’s waters in the Gulf of Mexico or off of the eastern Florida coast.
The last two weeks of weather have not been very kind to spaceflight schedules here in Florida, with hurricane-related or wind-related launch scrubs, and delays in the return of Crew-8 from ISS. Last month, the Polaris Dawn crew’s return was delayed due to weather as well.
Fortunately, forecasts are turning in favor of launches and landings. The 45th Weather Squadron of Space Launch Delta 45 reported in their launch forecast for Starlink 6-61 (also scheduled for Wednesday, October 23) that “Launch conditions improve for Thursday as [a high pressure] ridge builds over the Florida peninsula, relaxing wind speeds and ushering in even drier air. Weather will be very favorable with a negligible risk of any weather violations [for launching.]”
Presumably, the calmer skies will also be of benefit to Crew-8’s astronauts as well as the steady stream of launches from the Cape that have been affected by poor weather conditions.
