The impact of Hurricane Milton extends beyond Florida and into outer space as the return of the three astronauts, Jeanette Epps, Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt, and the cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin, has been delayed.
The undocking date of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-8 mission from the International Space Station has been pushed back several times due to the Category 4 hurricane. “NASA and SpaceX now are targeting no earlier than 3:05 a.m. EDT Sunday, Oct. 13, for the undocking of the Crew-8 mission from the International Space Station due to weather conditions and potential impacts from Hurricane Milton across the Florida peninsula,” NASA officials announced on the initial planned undocking date, Monday, Oct. 7. “Mission managers continue to monitor conditions, with the next weather briefing planned for 11 a.m. Friday, Oct. 11.”
In addition to Crew-8, two other NASA SpaceX aerospace missions were affected by Hurricane Milton. Crew 9’s departure from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station was pushed back by two days, and the launch of the Europa Clipper spacecraft to Jupiter’s Europa moon has been delayed indefinitely.
These four astronauts were not the only individuals stuck in space this week. On a separate mission, veteran astronauts Sunita “Suni” Williams and Barry “Butch” Wilmore, who was initially sent out on June 5 for an eight-day trip aboard a Boeing Starliner Capsule, remain on the ISS until early 2025. For them, however, NASA has stated that “There is no rush to bring (the) crew home. This is a lesson learned from the space shuttle Columbia accident. Our NASA and Boeing teams are poring over data from additional in-space, ground testing, and analysis, providing mission managers data to make the best, safest decision on how and when to return crew home.”
