NASA, SpaceX Crew-8 rocket launch: 4 astronauts headed to International Space Station

FLORIDA - Four astronauts aboard SpaceX's Endeavour spacecraft successfully launched from Florida's Kennedy Space Center Sunday night headed to the International Space Station.

The NASA, SpaceX Crew-8 Mission was initially supposed to happen early Friday morning, but was delayed to Saturday, and then delayed again to Sunday. The four astronauts will spend several months aboard the ISS before returning to Earth in the fall of 2024, according to NASA's Crew-8 Mission Summary.

"Crew-8 will conduct new scientific research to prepare for human exploration beyond low Earth orbit and benefit humanity on Earth," according to NASA.

Meet the crew

NASA astronaut Matthew Dominick holds a master of science in systems engineering from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, and is serving as the commander for the Crew-8 mission and has completed two years of training as an Astronaut Candidate.

Michael Barratt was selected by NASA in 200 and is board-certified in internal and aerospace medicine. He has participated in two spaceflights – spending a total of 212 days in space across both spaceflights. Barratt will serve as pilot for the Crew-8 mission. 

Jeanette Epps was selected by NASA in 2009 and completed her astronaut candidate training which included scientific and technical briefings, spacewalk training, intensive instruction in International Space Station systems, and more. Epps will serve as the mission specialist for the crew.

Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin graduated from aviation school in Russia majoring in engineering, maintenance, and repair of aircraft radio navigation systems. This will be his first space mission. Grebenkin will serve as the flight engineer.