SpaceX’s Crew-8 members are about to arrive at the International Space Station after launching from the Kennedy Space Center on Monday.
The Crew Dragon spacecraft carrying NASA astronauts Michael Barratt, Matthew Dominick, and Jeanette Epps, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin, will arrive at the space station some 250 miles above Earth at about 3 a.m. ET (midnight PT) early on Tuesday. Read on for full details on how to watch a live stream of the arrival.
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket carrying the crew left Kennedy at the targeted time, though 30 minutes from launch a rapid assessment had to be made of a tiny crack in a seal on the Crew Dragon’s hatch. Engineers deemed the crack to be of no risk to the integrity to be of no risk to the integrity of the spacecraft, a decision that paved the way for the launch a short while later.
How to watch
NASA’s live stream of the rendezvous and docking of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-8 to the space station will start at 1 a.m. ET (10 p.m. PT). You can watch it via the player embedded at the top of this page or by heading to the space agency’s YouTube channel.
The content will include real-time footage from inside the capsule and ISS, as well as audio feeds from Mission Control, all the astronauts involved, and a commentary explaining everything that’s happening.
The docking is expected to take place at about 3 a.m. ET (midnight PT). Once safely secured to the orbital outpost, the hatch will be opened at about 4:45 a.m. ET (1:45 a.m. PT) so the new arrivals can exit the Crew Dragon and enter the station, where their colleagues will be waiting to welcome them.
The entire ISS crew will then gather together to offer some remarks that will also be part of the live stream.
