NASA’s SpaceX Crew-8 is preparing for lift off to the International Space Station tonight. Everything should go as planned as long as the weather doesn’t cause any issues.
NASA and SpaceX are targeting 11:16 p.m. EST to launch a Falcon 9 rocket carrying the four Crew-8 members aboard the Dragon Endeavour capsule from pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center.
However, the Space Force’s 45th Weather Squadron only pins the odds of “go for launch” conditions at 40%, citing threats of precipitation, cumulus clouds and a moderate-to-high risk of poor ascent corridor weather. The launch already had to be postponed from its scheduled Friday March 1st date due to the weather.
The Falcon 9 is projected to fly in a northeasterly trajectory. The rocket’s first-stage booster will target landing at Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station 7 minutes, 38 seconds after liftoff, generating sonic booms in the nearby area.
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How to watch the NASA SpaceX launch
NASA is providing live coverage of the launch scheduled to begin at 11:16 p.m. EST. You can watch it live at the video at the top of the page or on NASA+ and NASA Television. Additionally, NASA will also hold a post-launch conference to discuss how the mission went. That’s set to start at 1:30 am ET, two hours after the launch.
According to Space.com, SpaceX will also carry the event live on X, formerly Twitter, starting one hour before the launch at 10:16 p.m. EST.
Contributing: Emily DeLetter
