--- title: "A Space Force Guardian Is Bringing Stranded Boeing Astronauts Home" description: "A Space Force Guardian is going on a mission none has ever attempted before — actually flying to space as a Space Force official." date: "2024-09-04" modified: "2024-09-04" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/space-force-guardian-starliner-mission" categories: - "Boeing" - "Space" - "Space Force" tags: - "NASA" - "space force" - "starliner" - "the digest" --- # A Space Force Guardian Is Bringing Stranded Boeing Astronauts Home ![A Space Force guardian is going on a mission none has ever attempted before — actually flying to space as a Space Force official.]() *\Image: Miguel J. Rodriguez Carrillo / AFP via Getty / Ruturism\* ## Our Saviors A Space Force Guardian is going on a mission none has ever attempted before: [actually going to space](). In a [press release](), NASA announced that Col. Nick Hague will take charge as the first ever active-duty Space Force Guardian to journey into space (astronaut Michael Hopkins was [deputized into the Space Force]() during a ceremony on board the ISS in 2020, but he wasn't yet a member when he traveled there, and the military branch's personnel [weren't yet known as Guardians]().) Hague's mission is simple, according to [*Military.com*'s breakdown](): bring back [Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore](), the now-stranded astronauts who took Boeing's doomed Starliner up to the International Space Station earlier this summer and have since been unable to return home in the [malfunctioning capsule](). The international pair of saviors will fly with two empty seats on a SpaceX Dragon capsule for NASA's Crew-9 mission, which will launch later this month and return to Earth with their precious cargo no sooner than February with Wilmore and Williams in tow. ## Delays on Delays What was slated to be an eight-day jaunt to and from the ISS in early June will end up being at least seven months for the Starliner crew — but the uncrewed capsule itself is [set to return to Earth alone]() on September 6. Hague's historic first launch as a designated Space Force Guardian was [also delayed by the Starliner fiasco](). Despite it being his first launch with the Space Force, this won't be Hague's first space rodeo, since he [stayed aboard the ISS for six months]() when he was still in the Air Force back in 2019. Prior to that successful launch, Hague had also [attempted a launch in 2018]() on a Russian Soyuz rocket that ended up malfunctioning, resulting in a close call and mission abort. Between then and now, Hague joined the Space Force and became the new branch's director of test and evaluation. Now his branch-switching, close-calls, and patience are being rewarded — unless the mission slips yet again, that is. **More on space personnel:** [*Astronauts Hear Strange Sounds Coming From Boeing's Cursed Starliner*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()