No, it's not Steve Carell.

Guardian of the Space Station

Despite having been founded over four years ago, the US Space Force has yet to send a single one of its "guardians" into space.

But 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 as part of NASA and SpaceX's Crew-9 mission.

Naturally, the lucky guardian's role 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," Space Force colonel Nick Hague, the guardian in question, equivocated in a statement.

It's a notable pivot for the Space Force, an organization that has historically struggled with being taken seriously and figuring out why it was created in the first place. 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, it's technically not the first time a Space Force officer has been in space, as Defense One points out. 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 has some 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 second to the ISS. That's because, 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.

More on the Space Force: Space Force Boss Says Weird New Weapons Are Headed to Orbit


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