The first Space Force officer to be launched into space came back to Earth on Tuesday evening after six months aboard the International Space Station, returning alongside two astronauts who had stayed aboard the laboratory significantly longer than anticipated.

Col. Nick Hague, an active-duty Space Force Guardian and astronaut, launched in late September from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. As the commander of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission, he traveled 72,553,920 miles, spent 171 days in space, and completed 2,736 orbits, according to information from his service branch.

“I never would have imagined that I was going to be the first Guardian to launch into space. I represent all those Guardians that are around the globe,” Hague said in a news release Wednesday. “I represent that entire family that brings so much to the table that lets us explore space, and it’s a thrill to be a part of that.”

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In addition to conducting numerous research experiments aboard the ISS, Hague also oversaw a high-profile operation involving the return of Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams — two astronauts and Navy test pilots who arrived at the space station initially expecting to stay only a week, but issues with the Boeing Starliner spacecraft left them in space for nine months.

Hague, Williams, Wilmore and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov splashed down in the ocean off the coast of Tallahassee on Tuesday evening. The crew underwent medical evaluations as they started to readjust to Earth’s gravity, with planned travel to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston to meet up with their loved ones.

Gen. Chance Saltzman, the Space Force’s top uniformed leader, praised Hague’s involvement in the mission.

“As the first member of the Space Force to launch into orbit, he embodies our Guardian spirit,” Saltzman said in the news release. “His dedication to scientific discovery is remarkable, his effort to inspire the next generation of space pioneers is commendable, and his commitment to serving our nation is unwavering. We’re incredibly proud.”

Mike Hopkins, who was an Air Force officer, became the first Guardian in space when he took his service oath in a ceremony aboard the ISS in 2020.

Hague’s first visit to space, which lasted more than 200 days, happened in 2019, when he was a member of the Air Force. He transferred into the Space Force in 2021. His latest trip to space lasted 175 days — with a combined total of more than a year orbiting above Earth.

While the plan to bring Williams and Wilmore back with Crew-9 had been in the works for months before President Donald Trump took office, the commander in chief took to social media on Monday to erroneously blame and attack the Biden administration, claiming they “shamefully forgot” about the astronauts and left them in space.

“This began when I asked Elon Musk to go up and get the abandoned astronauts, because the Biden administration was incapable of doing so,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. “They shamefully forgot about the astronauts, because they considered it to be a very embarrassing event for them — another thing I inherited from that failed group of incompetents.”

Another Department of the Air Force service member joined the ISS crew over the weekend. Air Force Maj. Nichole Ayers is the pilot of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-10 mission to the ISS.

Ayers’ service record includes more than 200 combat hours during Operation Inherent Resolve — the military’s fight against the Islamic State terrorist group in Iraq and Syria — and she has upward of 1,400 flight hours in the T-38 Talon and F-22 Raptor, the Air Force said in a news release.

“I can’t wait to get to work up here,” Ayers said in a video moments after arriving aboard the ISS.

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