Four astronauts to join the International Space Station as they were blasted off on SpaceX Falcon rocket

On Sunday, four astronauts departed from Kennedy Space Center in Florida for the International Space Station, where they will be tasked with overseeing the arrival of two more ships during their six-month stay.

The four astronauts together create the SpaceX Crew-8 mission and are three Americans from NASA: Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt, Jeanette Epps, and Russian Roscosmos' Alexander Grebenkin. They were launched on a SpaceX Falcon rocket and are expected to reach the space station on Tuesday. They will replace the crew from Russia, Denmark and Japan, who had been there since August 2023.

This mission is the first such experience for three crew members. Matthew Dominick is a U.S. Navy test pilot. This is his first ever trip to orbit, like Epps, an aerospace engineer and former technical intelligence officer for the CIA and Grebenkin, a former officer in Russian army. The most experienced astronaut in this crew is Dr. Michael Barratt, a physician for whom this is the third mission to the space station. "Really honored to fly this new-generation spaceship with this new-generation crew," said Barratt, quoted by the Reuters Agency.

The ISS is located about 400 kilometers above the earth and is operated by the United States, Russia, Canada, Brazil, Japan, and 11 European countries. Members of Crew 8 are scheduled to be there until the end of August. In addition to supervising the arrival of two other ships, they will conduct numerous experiments in space.

Sources: Fox News, Reuters