NASA astronauts Jeanette Epps, Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin will continue to stay aboard ISS through the week as they await better weather in the Crew Dragon landing zones off of the Florida coast.

“Weather conditions near the multiple splashdown sites off Florida’s coast remain unfavorable for the return of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-8 mission from the International Space Station. Forecasts remain marginal for an undocking on Tuesday, Oct. 22, and Wednesday, Oct. 23. If weather conditions improve, NASA and SpaceX will target no earlier than 9:05 p.m. EDT, Oct. 22, for undocking from the space station. Based on the current forecast, conditions are expected to improve as the week progresses.”

NASA, October 21, 2024

Originally scheduled to return to Earth on October 7, Crew 8’s Dragon capsule Endeavour was slated to undock from the International Space Station (ISS) on October 13. However, poor weather in potential recovery zones postponed that departure, and for the past two weeks, the crew has been awaiting better conditions.

Seas have been 6-8 feet through this period, which has seen a hurricane pass through the region and a strong front boundary afterward, stirring up strong winds and choppy seas. Small Craft Advisories have been an almost standard feature for the Florida coastline during the period, and so far, those conditions have shown little sign of relenting. NASA managers are meeting again tomorrow to discuss the weather outlook, according to the Commercial Crew office.

The forecast for the coastal waters of Florida are not encouraging, at least in the early part of the week:

East Coast of Florida: High pressure is forecast to remain over the eastern U.S. through mid-week, resulting in a prolonged period of moderate to fresh east northeast winds. The long fetch of winds over the Atlantic will produce poor to hazardous boating conditions into late week. Isolated, onshore-moving showers will remain possible into Friday.

Gulf of Mexico: Cautionary conditions remain across all Gulf waters today. Those conditions will persist in the offshore waters tonight while northeast winds begin a slow decrease in the nearshore waters. By Tuesday, winds throughout the northeast Gulf waters will relax to more moderate levels heading into midweek with seas falling to 1-2 feet.

National Weather Service, October 21, 2024