by A new set of astronauts is ready to launch the International Space Station.
SpaceX is set to send four new astronauts aboard the Crew Dragon spacecraft for Crew-8, NASA’s eighth operational commercial crew mission, to the International Space Station no earlier than March 1.
Crew-8 consists of NASA astronauts Matthew Dominic (commander), Michael Barratt (pilot), and Jeanette Epps (mission specialist), as well as mission specialist Alexander Grebenkinof the Russian space agency Roscosmos.
The crew are all rookies except for Barratt, who is on his third trip after flights in 2009 (ISS Expeditions 19-20) and 2011 (the space shuttle’s STS-133). Epps was previously assigned to two other missions on a Soyuz spacecraft and Boeing’s Starliner in Russia, but was reassigned from both for various reasons.
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The crew’s personal memories, as is often the case in these missions, are callbacks to meaningful moments and people in their lives. The four shared their plans to carry a few small objects during a live-streamed Crew-8 press conference at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston on January 25.
Dominick plans to defect a watch that he says is similar to what the astronauts wore during the Apollo moon missions (the astronauts used Omega Speedmasters). This watch is one he got from his father, who kept it since 1970. The two used to time their road trip distances between the mile markers using that watch, he shared.
Barratt’s memorabilia will include “hard photos” (printed photos) of his family, and Epps will bring up a photo of her mother. “Five days after I was selected (as an astronaut candidate), my mom passed away,” said Epps, who joined NASA in June 2009. “I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for her, and her work ethic and emphasis on education growing up.”
Space.com spoke with three of the four astronauts individually on Jan. 25 to learn more about their spaceflight or spaceflight-related experiences. (Epps was not available.)
One of the most “attractive events of my life” happened to Barratt during STS-133 in February 2011, he said, when Canadarm2 froze in place while walking NASA astronaut Stephen Bowen mounted on the robotic arm . “I’m fine as long as it’s not too long,” Bowen told the space shuttle crew. Barratt was one of the group that controls the arm from a workstation inside the Cupola – a series of 360-degree windows that allow for spectacular views of robotics activities.
The cupola controls for Canadarm2 were not working, according to NASA’s Spacewalk history book “Walking to Olympus.” But the issue was quickly resolved by switching to the Canadarm2 standby station in the US Destiny laboratory. Although the science hub was further inside the ISS and away from the large windows, Barratt said this situation showed that backups are always useful. “Things surprise you, but we’re ready for those surprises for the most part,” he said.
Although Dominick has yet to fly in space, the Navy pilot is famous around the Astronaut Office for organizing astronauts to win the Artemis 1 rocket in 2022, before that mission flew a human-rated capsule with mannequins around the moon. Artemis 1 was the initial lunar mission of the larger Artemis program which aims to return humans to the moon no earlier than 2026.
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The resulting pictures are of the group of astronauts in T-38 trainers next to the Artemis 1 Space Launch System rocket “all over the Kennedy Space Center and Johnson Space Center”, Dominick shared in a small group interview with Space.com on January 25, although his training schedule did not allow him to participate in person. The photos were enhanced in true NASA planning fashion: Dominick and his team used software to determine the right time to fly for good lighting angles from the sun.
Grebenkin, a pilot for the Russian armed forces, said he is enjoying the challenge of learning the systems aboard the SpaceX Dragon capsule along with his previous Soyuz training.
When asked about key differences, he said through an English interpreter that it’s not just about learning a new vehicle, but “getting used to a new training approach” with American instructors instead of Russian. While Grebenkin did not elaborate on the international differences, he said that most of Russia’s training time for cosmonauts is focused on learning how to operate the Soyuz spacecraft.
