"UNC Grad Zena Cardman to Make History as First Space Force Guardian Launched into Orbit on SpaceX's Crew-9 Mission"

U.S. Space Force Col. Nick Hague, the first Space Force Guardian, is set to pilot NASA's SpaceX Crew-9 mission to the International Space Station in August. Hague, who previously flew with the U.S. Air Force and NASA, transferred to Space Force in 2019 and will be joined by cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov and NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Stephanie Wilson. The mission marks the ninth operational flight for SpaceX under NASA's commercial crew program and is expected to spend about six months in space.