Space

Giant Leaps Beginning at Johnson for NASA's SpaceX Crew-9 Commander Nick Hague

.As the hub of individual spaceflight, NASA's Johnson Space Facility in Houston contains a range of unique accountabilities as well as privileges. Those consist of being actually the home of NASA's rocketeer corps.Among those rocketeers-- Nick Hague-- is actually currently preparing to release to the International Space Station alongside Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov on the nine rotational mission under NASA's Industrial Crew Course. This will be actually the third launch and also 2nd objective to the spaceport station for Hague, that was actually picked as a NASA astronaut in 2013 and also has actually devoted 203 days precede.Hague was birthed and also increased in Kansas however has actually crisscrossed the country for college and also profession. He made degrees coming from the United States Air Troop Institute in Colorado and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, and also he attended the U.S. Aviation service Examination Pilot University at Edwards Aviation Service Foundation in The Golden State. Hague's military occupation has actually taken him to New Mexico, Colorado, Virginia, and also Washington, D.C., as well as included a five-month deployment to Iraq. Hague moved coming from the Aviation service to the U.S. Room Force in 2020 after acting as the Area Pressure's supervisor of examination and also evaluation at the Government.No stranger to brand-new spots, Hague clearly recalls creating his initial travel to Johnson when he was speaking with to join NASA's astronaut corps. "I had no tip what to anticipate, and also it was actually a little bit overwhelming. I understood every person was seeing me as well as determining me," he stated. "The good news is, even though I had not been chosen then, I acquired another opportunity a handful of years later. It is actually a fairly enchanting place.".Hague completed his rocketeer training in July 2015 as part of NASA's 21st rocketeer training class. He was the initial rocketeer from that group to become designated to an objective, which introduced in October 2018 but was actually aborted quickly after launch. His next spaceflight took place in 2019, when he signed up with three of his schoolmates-- NASA astronauts Jessica Meir, Christina Koch, and Andrew Morgan-- aboard the International Spaceport Station for Expeditions 59 and 60.Hague has actually created many minds at Johnson, yet one that stands out is his adventure functioning onsite among the 2013 federal government cessation. "I am actually active-duty army so I still came to function," he discussed. "I always remember being onsite as well as the center being entirely empty. Being able to use around an unfilled grounds on the free-range bikes-- it was actually calm and also unique." It was actually likewise a sneak peek of what many Johnson staff members experienced throughout the widespread as well as exactly how NASA maintains continuous help for spaceflight procedures despite extenuating circumstances.Hague now expects one more journey to low Earth track. NASA as well as SpaceX representatives currently organize to release the Crew-9 goal no earlier than Wednesday, Sept. 25. The workers will take off from Release Sophisticated 40 from the Cape Canaveral Room Troop Terminal in Florida aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 spacecraft and Monster space capsule.Hague as well as Gorbonov will definitely become members of the Expedition 72 staff aboard the terminal. They will definitely join NASA rocketeers Butch Wilmore, Suni Williams, and Don Pettit, and Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and also Ivan Vagner, and also will certainly invest about six months conducting medical investigation in microgravity and finishing a range of functional tasks just before coming back home.Even more information about the mission and also team can be found by adhering to the Crew-9 blogging site, @commercial_crew on X, or commercial crew on Facebook. You may also adhere to @astrohague on X as well as Instagram.