.As the center of human spaceflight, NASA's Johnson Area Center in Houston accommodates a variety of unique accountabilities and opportunities. Those consist of being the home of NASA's rocketeer corps.One of those rocketeers-- Chip Hague-- is actually right now prepping to release to the International Space Station along with Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov on the ninth rotational objective under NASA's Commercial Staff Plan. This will certainly be actually the third launch and also 2nd mission to the space station for Hague, who was chosen as a NASA astronaut in 2013 and also has actually invested 203 times precede.Hague was actually birthed and elevated in Kansas however has actually crisscrossed the country for college and also career. He gained levels from the USA Sky Troop School in Colorado and also the Massachusetts Institute of Innovation in Cambridge, and also he attended the united state Aviation service Test Fly Institution at Edwards Air Force Bottom in The Golden State. Hague's armed forces profession has taken him to New Mexico, Colorado, Virginia, and Washington, D.C., as well as included a five-month release to Iraq. Hague moved from the Air Force to the United State Room Force in 2020 after functioning as the Space Force's supervisor of exam as well as assessment at the Pentagon.Familiar with brand new spots, Hague strongly recalls making his first journey to Johnson when he was actually interviewing to sign up with NASA's astronaut corps. "I possessed no concept what to expect, and it was actually a bit overwhelming. I understood everybody was seeing me and also determining me," he pointed out. "The good news is, even though I had not been selected then, I obtained another opportunity a couple of years later. It's a pretty enchanting spot.".Hague finished his rocketeer training in July 2015 as portion of NASA's 21st rocketeer course. He was the initial rocketeer coming from that team to become assigned to a goal, which launched in October 2018 however was actually miscarried shortly after departure. His following spaceflight happened in 2019, when he signed up with 3 of his friends-- NASA rocketeers Jessica Meir, Christina Koch, as well as Andrew Morgan-- aboard the International Spaceport Station for Expeditions 59 as well as 60.Hague has actually created many minds at Johnson, however one that stands apart is his adventure operating onsite surrounded by the 2013 government closure. "I'm active-duty military so I still involved operate," he described. "I remember being onsite and the facility being completely empty. Having the ability to use around an unfilled campus on the free-range bikes-- it was quiet as well as surreal." It was likewise a preview of what several Johnson employees experienced during the astronomical and also exactly how NASA maintains day-and-night assistance for spaceflight operations despite mitigating circumstances.Hague currently looks ahead to yet another quest to reduced Earth track. NASA and also SpaceX officials presently prepare to release the Crew-9 objective no earlier than Wednesday, Sept. 25. The workers will ascend from Release Sophisticated 40 from the Peninsula Canaveral Room Force Station in Florida aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 spacecraft and Dragon space probe.Hague as well as Gorbonov are going to enter of the Expedition 72 staff aboard the station. They are going to sign up with NASA rocketeers Butch Wilmore, Suni Williams, and Don Pettit, and also Roscosmos astronauts Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner, and will invest regarding six months carrying out medical study in microgravity and also completing a range of operational activities prior to coming back home.Even more details regarding the goal and workers could be located by adhering to the Crew-9 weblog, @commercial_crew on X, or commercial workers on Facebook. You can easily also observe @astrohague on X as well as Instagram.