"UNC Alum and Guardian Officer to Make History with Space Launch"

The US Space Force is set to send its first Guardian, Col. Nick Hague, into space as part of a NASA mission to the International Space Station in August. This marks the first time in the Space Force's history that it will send a Guardian into space. Hague, who transferred from the Air Force to the Space Force in 2021, will join two NASA astronauts and a Russian cosmonaut on the Crew-9 mission aboard a SpaceX spacecraft, where they will conduct various research activities for over six months.