BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. — The women and men tasked with keeping NASA’s astronauts safe going to and from space now have a new commander and designation within the military.

On Thursday, Detachment 3 went through a pair of ceremonies, ushering in new changes for the unit that was first chartered back in 1958 as the DoD Mercury Support Office.

More than 60 years later, the organization is still supports all current and future NASA crewed missions. 

“It’s an amazing organization that spans across the DoD, making sure that we’re not only there to rescue the astronauts if they need us, but also for the nominal end-of-mission for the Artemis Program when they land off the coast of California,” said Lt. Col. Chris Hearne, chief of recovery operations for Det. 3.

Changing designation

Back in March 2021, U.S. Army Gen. James Dickinson, the U.S. Space Command commander, named 1st Air Force as the future air component to U.S. Space Command. 

“We will be designated once we’re kind of built up and ready to actually perform that job. And that job is supporting the United States Space Command in the air domain,” said Brig. Gen. William Betts, the vice commander of 1st Air Force and Air Force Northern Command. “So, if there’s jobs to be done by airplanes and airmen, that’s our job is to support them in that way.”

With that designation pending, the Secretary of the Air Force, decided to re-designate Det. 3 from Patrick Space Force Base to 1st Air Force at Tyndall Air Force Base. 

“Although we talk about launches and astronauts a lot here, this unit, Det. 3, is undoubtedly first and foremost an Air Force rescue unit," Betts said during Thursday's ceremony. "So, it made perfect sense to bring them home and transfer Detachment 3 from USSPACECOM to First Air Force under Air Combat Command."

Betts oversaw both the re-designation and change of command ceremonies on Thursday. He said even with the re-designation, the men and women will continue operating from the Space Coast.

“They’re getting great support right now from Space Launch Delta 45 and as long as Space Launch Delta 45 continues to provide them the facilities that they need to do their job, then the plan is to keep them here because their proximity to the Cape is absolutely critical to them being able to execute their mission,” Betts said. 

A new commander

Thursday’s ceremony also brought a new commander to oversee the newly designated Det. 3. 

Lt. Col. Richard Bolton took over command from Lt. Col. Michael Thompson, who, as the Det. 3 commander, was also the commander of Task Force 3, the global contingency rescue operation during the SpaceX Crew-2 launch and Crew-1 landing.

That task force was made up of nearly 140 personnel from six units who covered about 155 million square miles. 

His successor, described himself as a “rescue baby,” since his career in the Air Force has been in rescue operations, starting with his assignment at Moody Air Force Base with the 71st Expeditionary Rescue Squadron.

“It’s home, but there’s definitely some complications that come with space because this is the only place that does it,” Bolton said. “So, while I might know my career field, I’m leaning on the professionals and individuals in the unit itself to try and see how that fits into space.”

Bolton is a Command Pilot with 145 hours of combat flight under his belt along with more than 3,000 total flight hours. But he said getting to be a part of this space operation is an especially great highlight for his career.

“In the few weeks I’ve been down here, I’ve already met a handful of astronauts, and as a child I was dreaming of that kind of stuff all along,” Bolton said. “I’m excited for the job and humbled by the opportunity.

Different designation, same job

Bolton steps into the new role at a critical time for manned space flight. NASA and Boeing are preparing for the uncrewed test of the Starliner capsule on July 30, followed by a crewed launch, potentially later this year. 

SpaceX is scheduled to launch Crew-3 in late October and return Crew-2 at the end of that month. Coming behind those is the first launch of the Artemis program, with an unmanned flight potentially later this year.

Lt. Col. Chris Hearne, the chief of recovery operations for Det. 3, said regardless of the designation, their mission of protecting astronauts and airmen remains the same. 

“We’re excited to be back and part of ACC," Hearne said. "We’re excited to be working with 1st Air Force, but in the end, we’re still going to be doing the same mission in supporting NASA and taking care of our country’s space interests."

Hearne joined Det. 3 about three years ago. He noted that even during the lapse between the last space shuttle launch from the Space Coast to the launch of the Commercial Crew program, the work of Det. 3 hasn’t slowed down.

“NASA partnered with Roscosmos, their Russian counterpart in 2003 after the Columbia accident and we rode with them to and from the International Space Station the two years the Shuttle was grounded,” Hearne said. “When the Shuttle came back in ’05 and we were able to start flying again. But we decided to renew the partnership in 2011 and the unit has been supporting four Soyuz landings a year.”

With the work really kicking into high gear in the U.S. with the start of the Commercial Crew program, Hearne said it’s a similar mission to the space shuttle days, but with more variety.

“Throughout the course of NASA and our country’s history, we’ve always had one human spaceflight program and one vehicle. Now we have three human spaceflight programs, consisting of four different vehicles," Hearne said. "And what we provide to each of the three programs — the Soyuz, Commercial Crew and Artemis programs — differ slightly, but it’s all very, very similar.

“We’re excited to get to support four different capsules as space flight becomes bigger and bigger for our country.”

Hearne said the partnership with Roscosmos will continue with two Soyuz missions per year to the ISS.

When asked what their role will look like for private enterprises, like the Inspiration4 and Axiom missions, he said don’t expect Det. 3 to take a leading role in those.

“The DoD doesn’t have a part in commercial space tourism. We exist to take care of national assets, i.e. the U.S. capsules, which in this case is the Orion capsule as part of the Artemis program and the astronauts themselves,” Hearne said. “So, we have no charter to work with space tourism currently.”

However, if there were a disaster with a commercial tourism launch they could be deployed as a part of U.S. Northern Command, one of 11 unified combatant commands within the Department of Defense.