Hurricane Milton forces NASA, SpaceX to delay Crew-8 astronauts' return to Earth

A vast Category 5 Hurricane Milton seen from the International Space Station.

Due to Hurricane Milton, four astronauts will stay in Earth orbit a few days longer than planned. 

NASA and SpaceX originally targeted Monday morning (Oct. 7) for the departure of the Crew-8 mission from the International Space Station (ISS). However, Crew-8 is scheduled to splash down off the coast of Florida, a region presently under threat from Milton, which intensified into a Category 5 hurricane on Monday before weakening slightly to a Category 4 storm on Tuesday. So, the undocking date has been pushed back several times, most recently to Sunday (Oct. 13).

"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 in an update on Monday (Oct. 7). "Mission managers continue to monitor conditions, with the next weather briefing planned for 11 a.m. Friday, Oct. 11."

Crew-8 launched atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on March 3, lofting a Crew Dragon capsule carrying NASA astronauts Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt and Jeanette Epps, as well as Alexander Grebenkin of Russia's space agency Roscosmos. The quartet reached the orbiting lab two days later.

Crew-8's departure plans were set in motion by the arrival of SpaceX's Crew-9 mission on Sept. 29. Crew-9 was also affected by Hurricane Helene, which pushed the mission's launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Florida's Atlantic coast back two days.

Related: Satellites reveal Hurricane Helene's deadly fury as a monster Category 4 storm during landfall (videos)

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-8 astronauts from right to left NASA astronauts Jeanette Epps, Matthew Dominick, and Michael Barratt, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin smile and wave inside a Dragon spacecraft. (Image credit: SpaceX)

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— SpaceX, NASA stand down from Oct. 10 Europa Clipper launch due to Hurricane Milton

Crew-8 isn't the only mission that Hurricane Milton has affected. NASA and SpaceX have delayed indefinitely the launch of the $5 billion Europa Clipper spacecraft, which had been targeted to lift off atop a Falcon Heavy rocket on Thursday.

Clipper, which will study the life-hosting potential of the Jupiter ocean moon Europa, has until Nov. 6 to get off the ground.

Editor's note: This story was updated at 9:45 am ET to reflect Hurricane Milton's weakening from a Category 5 on Oct. 7 to a Category 4 storm on Oct. 8.