NASA SpaceX Crew 8 Announced

NASA's SpaceX Crew-8's crew members have been selected! Crew 8 will embark on a long-duration stay aboard the International Space Station (ISS) in early 2024. 

The crew members include NASA astronauts Commander Matthew Dominick, Pilot Michael Barratt, and Mission Specialist Jeanette Epps, along with Roscosmos cosmonaut Mission Specialist Alexander Grebenkin.

The SpaceX Crew-8 mission will mark the eighth rotational mission to the ISS under NASA's Commercial Crew Program, which aims to provide safe, reliable, and cost-effective transportation to and from the orbital outpost using American-made rockets and spacecraft launching from American soil.

Crew 8 will join the Expedition 70 and 71 crew members on the ISS to conduct a diverse range of operational and research activities.

Commander Matthew Dominick

Commander Matthew Dominick will be making his first spaceflight after becoming a NASA astronaut in 2017.

Hailing from Wheat Ridge, Colorado, Dominick earned his bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from the University of San Diego, California, and a master's in systems engineering from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California.

 He is an active-duty U.S. Navy astronaut and has served as a test pilot specializing in testing landing on and catapult launches from U.S. Navy aircraft carriers.

Pilot Michael Barratt

Pilot Michael Barratt, on the other hand, is a seasoned astronaut, making this his third trip to the ISS.

He previously served as a flight engineer for Expeditions 19 and 20 and performed two spacewalks. In 2011, Barratt flew aboard the space shuttle Discovery on STS-133, during which the Permanent Multipurpose Module and fourth Express Logistics Carrier were delivered to the ISS. Barratt hails from Vancouver, Washington, and holds a bachelor's degree in zoology from the University of Washington, Seattle, and a doctor of medicine from Northwestern University in Chicago, Illinois. He also completed residencies in internal medicine and aerospace medicine.

Mission Specialist Jeanette Epps

Mission Specialist Jeanette Epps will be making her debut spaceflight.

Originally from Syracuse, New York, Epps earned her bachelor's in physics from LeMoyne College and holds a master's and a doctorate in aerospace engineering from the University of Maryland, College Park. 

Prior to joining NASA, she worked at Ford Motor Company and the Central Intelligence Agency. Epps has been actively involved in various roles within NASA, including working on space station crew efficiency and serving as a crew support astronaut for two expeditions.

Mission Specialist Alexander Grebenkin

For Roscosmos, Mission Specialist Alexander Grebenkin will also be making his first space mission.

He graduated from Irkutsk High Military Aviation School in Russia, majoring in engineering, maintenance, and repair of aircraft radio navigation systems, and later earned a degree in radio communications, broadcasting, and television from Moscow Technical University of Communications and Informatics.

The ISS has been a remarkable feat of human ingenuity, hosting astronauts from 19 countries over its more than 22 years of continuous human presence. It has served as a vital platform for scientific research, technological demonstrations, and international collaboration, with over 3,000 research and educational investigations conducted by researchers from 108 countries and areas.

The upcoming Crew-8 mission promises to add new contributions to the wealth of knowledge and discoveries made possible by the unique microgravity environment of the International Space Station.