US Space Force to Send Guardian to International Space Station in Historic Mission
No, it’s not Steve Carell.
Guardian of the Space Station
Despite being founded over four years ago, the US Space Force has yet to send a single one of its “guardians” into space. However, that could soon change. In August, the newest arm of the US military is now slated to send one of its own to the International Space Station (ISS) as part of NASA and SpaceX’s Crew-9 mission.
Naturally, the role of the lucky guardian during his six-month stint on board the orbital lab is somewhat hazy. “The core of our mission on the space station is to perform science experiments and collect data,” said Space Force Colonel Nick Hague, the guardian in question.
It’s a significant milestone for the Space Force, an organization that has historically struggled with being taken seriously and figuring out its purpose. With a guardian floating on board the ISS, the military arm could finally feel like it’s getting a real foothold in the domain it was sworn to protect. And better late than never – after all, the space station is only sticking around for another six years or so.
Starship Troopers
However, this isn’t technically the first time a Space Force officer has been in space. Colonel Mike Hopkins announced he voluntarily transferred from the US Air Force to the Space Force while on board the ISS back in 2020.
Hague himself has experience when it comes to launching into space since he was previously a NASA astronaut. This summer’s launch will be his third, and only his second to the ISS. During his first attempt, the Russian Soyuz capsule that was meant to take him to the orbital lab experienced a booster failure a couple of minutes into the launch, triggering its in-flight abort system.
“It was one bumpy roller-coaster ride, a lot of side-to-side motion, being tossed around, but it was over almost before it started,” he recalled at the time.
Hopefully, the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule, which has already sent eight ISS crews (in addition to several test flights) to space, will fare better than that.
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