NASA is gearing up for its upcoming Crew-8 mission to the International Space Station, and the agency has scheduled a pair of news conferences to provide details about the mission and the crew involved. The briefings will take place on Thursday, Jan. 25, at the Johnson Space Center in Houston.
The first news conference, scheduled for 1 p.m. EST, will offer an overview of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-8 mission to the microgravity laboratory and Expeditions 70/71. Following this, a crew news conference will commence at 2:30 p.m., which will be followed by individual astronaut interviews at 3:30 p.m.
Both news conferences will be accessible via the NASA+ streaming service through the web or NASA app, as well as live on NASA Television, the NASA app, YouTube, and the agency’s website. The Crew-8 mission, set to launch in mid-February, will transport NASA astronauts Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt, and Jeanette Epps, alongside Alexander Grebenkin of Roscosmos, to the space station. Additionally, NASA astronaut Tracy C. Dyson, scheduled to launch to the space station on the Soyuz MS-25 spacecraft on March 21, will also participate in the crew briefing and interviews.
The Crew-8 mission will be launched using a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, carrying the crew aboard a Dragon spacecraft from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Dyson will launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
This event will serve as the final media opportunity to engage with the Crew-8 astronauts before their departure to Kennedy for launch. Media personnel interested in participating in person or seeking a remote interview with the crew must request credentials by Wednesday, Jan. 24. Those interested in participating by phone must contact the Johnson newsroom by 9:45 a.m. on the day of the event.
The briefing participants will include key figures such as Ken Bowersox, associate administrator of the Space Operations Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington, and Steve Stich, manager of the Commercial Crew Program at NASA Johnson, among others. The crew news conference will feature Tracy Dyson, flight engineer, alongside other members of the Crew-8 mission.
With the anticipation building for the upcoming Crew-8 mission, these briefings will offer valuable insights into the mission and the individuals involved, providing an exciting glimpse into the future of space exploration.
