First Space Force Guardian to Go to Space Shares His Cosmic Experiences

Col. Nick Hague Visits Vandenberg to Discuss His Recent Mission to ISS, Future of Space Exploration

Nick Hague has logged more than a total of 350 days in space. | Credit: Courtesy

Colonel Nick Hague, the first U.S. Space Force Guardian to be launched into space, always gravitated toward the cosmos. As a child, the night sky piqued his curiosity and inspired a drive to explore the unknown.

He chased that dream and is now a NASA astronaut who has logged more than 350 total days in space across various missions. He recently returned to Earth in March after 170 days aboard the International Space Station (ISS).

Speaking Wednesday at Vandenberg Space Force Base, Hague reflected on the experience of being in orbit and a unique mission: bringing home astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, who had to stay behind on the ISS after their Boeing Starliner spacecraft malfunctioned in June 2024.

Col. Nick Hague, the first Space Force Guardian to travel to space, spoke at Vandenberg last Wednesday about his experiences. | Credit: Callie Fausey

What was originally slated to be an eight-day test flight turned into a nearly 10-month stay in space until Hague and his Russian crewmate brought them back aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft.

“They were in great spirits,” Hague recalled. “They were happy to see their new crew mates. But the duration that they were there — we’ve slowly … built a database of experience doing long-duration missions. We’re collecting that data and trying to understand how it affects the body.”

Hague, commander of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9, said the mission’s original crew composition was restructured to integrate Williams and Wilmore and bring them home.

“We have dynamic situations all the time in space,” he said. “That’s the nature of the space business.”

On the ISS, the crew also conducted more than 900 hours of research related to advancing space exploration and human capabilities, including figuring out how we might grow seeds on Mars, studying blood clotting in zero gravity, and even 3D-printing human tissue.

Hague, an aerospace engineer, described being among the stars as “life changing” and said the experience “challenges your senses on so many different levels” because your body must adapt to unfamiliar conditions.

But although he is no stranger to the cosmos — he completed his fourth spacewalk during the Crew-9 mission — he has never seen a UFO (or UAP, to use the government’s term).

“I haven’t seen anything I couldn’t explain,” he chuckled. “Doesn’t mean we’re not trying to look out there for that stuff. NASA is looking for alien life. We’re trying to find life out in outer space, and I hope we do. It’s a pretty big universe.”

What he has noticed is that space has become more cluttered with space debris and satellites, like those carried by the SpaceX rockets that boom out of Vandenberg on an increasingly regular basis. During Hague’s recent stay on the ISS, his first view of the sunrise shocked him. He was waiting for the sun to come up over the horizon, and all of a sudden, he saw a constellation of light flashing before his eyes. He described the sight as “fireflies on the horizon.”

“The sunbeams glinted off the satellites and then hit us while we’re still in the dark,” he recounted. “Six years ago, I didn’t see that. But those are all those satellites that are there now that weren’t before.”

“There’s a lot of stuff in space,” he continued. “That’s why I’m here at Vandenberg. … They track it. But then they also look at the space station, and they say, ‘Is the space station safe?’ And if something is going to come close to the station, they’re calling Houston mission control and letting us know.”

Col. Nick Hague was commander of the Crew-9 mission aboard the ISS, which involved more than 900 hours of research and was the ticket home for Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore. | Credit: Courtesy

His research has also highlighted how climate change is reshaping Earth. Over the years, NASA missions have collected images of the Earth’s surface. That includes Hague’s expedition, which produced more than one million photos. “You can see glacial retreats,” he explained. “You can see changes in forest coverage. You can see all of those things.”

Hague became a Space Force Guardian in 2021, and said the role is meant to “protect the American way of life” by maintaining “the ultimate high ground” and making space a “stable and safe domain” for exploration. He said that although the team is small now, he is optimistic about the future of the role and hopes to inspire younger generations to pursue careers in science.

“There’s all of this opportunity, and it takes a huge team and a lot of different perspectives and experiences and talents,” he said. “And so there’s a place for everyone in space that wants to be there, and it’s an exciting time to be there, because we’re going to start to do some really amazing things.”

Despite the Trump administration’s proposed cuts to NASA’s funding, and although SpaceX has had quite a few misses — in terms of both rocket explosions and the somewhat volatile behavior of its founder, Elon Musk — Hague said he has confidence in the future of the program.

“I strapped into a Dragon capsule on top of a Falcon 9 and rode that to space, zipping along at five miles a second, among 50,000 other things that are up there,” he noted. “I did all of that because I have confidence in the teams of engineers and scientists on the ground to keep us safe, but also to continue to push that boundary of exploration and help us learn more, so that you can make life a little bit better.”