Col. Nick Hague, First Space Force Guardian in Space, Speaks at Vandenberg
Jarrod Zinn
LOMPOC, Calif. – U.S. Space Force Col. Nick Hague, the first active-duty Guardian to travel to space, shared his experience aboard the International Space Station during a visit to Vandenberg Space Force Base on Wednesday.
Hague launched aboard the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft on Sept. 28, 2024, as commander of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission. The flight marked an historic milestone, making him the first active-duty Space Force Guardian to fly to space and one of the first humans to launch from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
He returned to Earth on March 18, 2025, following a mission that spanned more than 171 days and was extended due to adjustments in the Crew-10 timeline. Hague and his fellow Crew-9 astronauts landed off the coast of Florida aboard the Dragon spacecraft.
“Over the two and a half decades that we’ve been sending crews to the station have built a database of experience doing long duration missions,” says Col. Hague. “And so we’re collecting that data and trying to understand how it affects the body.”
While in orbit, Hague participated in more than 150 scientific investigations designed to advance human spaceflight and improve life on Earth.
“There’s a lot of stuff in space, and you can see it,” says Col. Hague. “That’s why I’m here at Vandenberg. They track it, but then if something’s going to come close to the station, then they’re calling Houston Mission control and they’re letting us know.”
His research on board the station focused on critical issues such as blood clotting in microgravity, vision changes in astronauts, and plant growth in space.
“Being in space challenges your senses on so many different levels,” says Col. Hague. “The way you understand yourself as your body goes through all its adaptations to microgravity, the way your mind processes, the things around you and their behavior, because they start doing things that you’re not familiar with.”
On Jan. 16, 2025, he conducted a six-hour spacewalk alongside an Expedition 72 crewmate to replace a station component and service an external research instrument, helping ensure the continued functionality of key systems used for Earth and space observation.
He also completed the Space Force T-Minus 10-Miler virtually—running 10 miles on the station’s treadmill in about 90 minutes, the same time it takes the ISS to complete one orbit around Earth.
Col. Hague, who has now logged more than 350 days in space across multiple missions, called this a pivotal time for young people to pursue careers in the space industry. He emphasized the rapid growth of new technologies and the vital importance of teamwork—a lesson he said was among the most surprising and rewarding aspects of spaceflight.
“We’re developing new suits, we’re developing new lunar rovers, new lunar landers, the Rockets that are going to get us there,” says Col. Hague. “You’ve got all of these new opportunities, and it takes a huge team.”
For more information about SpaceX, you can visit their website here.
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