NASA announces who will fly on SpaceX’s Crew-8 mission next year

While we await the launch of SpaceX’s Crew-7 mission, NASA has announced the crew members who will be part of the next rotation to the ISS, known as SpaceX Crew-8.

SpaceX Crew-8 astronauts

• Matthew Dominick, Commander (NASA)
• Michael Barratt, Pilot (NASA)
• Jeanette Epps (NASA)
• Alexander Grebenkin (Roscosmos)

Leading the Crew-8 mission is Matthew Dominick, an experienced commander in the US Navy and a test pilot. He joined NASA’s astronaut corps in 2017 as part of Group 22. During his tenure in the Navy, Dominick flew combat missions with the F/A-18 and later transitioned to a test pilot career, where he worked with aircraft such as the F-35, V-22 Osprey, and X-47B. This upcoming mission will mark his first venture into space.

Assisting Dominick on the mission is veteran astronaut Michael Barratt, who has already participated in two spaceflights before being assigned to Crew-8. Barratt was selected in 2000 as part of Group 18 and brings a unique background to the team. He holds a bachelor’s degree in zoology and obtained his M.D. in 1985. Barratt focused on internal and aerospace medicine before joining NASA. His previous flights included Soyuz TMA-14 in 2009 and the final launch of Shuttle Discovery, STS-133, in 2011.

Completing the NASA cadre of Crew-8 astronauts is Jeanette Epps, an aerospace engineer with an intriguing career path. Epps spent several years working at The Ford Motor Company and later at the CIA before joining NASA in 2009. She was initially scheduled to fly on a crew rotation to the ISS in 2017 but was replaced at the last minute. Subsequently, Epps was assigned to the Boeing Starliner-1 flight, but due to delays, she has now been reassigned to fly on a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft.

The final member of Crew-8 comes from Russia’s Roscosmos, cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin. In keeping with recent SpaceX crewed missions, NASA and Russia have exchanged seats on their rotation missions to ensure representation from both sides on the ISS in case one crew needs to depart early. Grebenkin, who has been part of the Russian cosmonaut corps since 2018, will be embarking on his first spaceflight.

As for the precise launch date of SpaceX’s Crew-8 mission, it has not been confirmed yet, but it is expected to take place in Q1 of 2024. Crew-8 will relieve Crew-7, which is scheduled to launch from the Kennedy Space Center in the coming weeks. Since Crew-7 plans to stay on the ISS for six months, Crew-8 could launch sometime in February.