{"id":5082,"date":"2020-07-20T20:57:00","date_gmt":"2020-07-20T18:57:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/afspecialwarfare.com\/?p=5082"},"modified":"2020-09-12T21:36:45","modified_gmt":"2020-09-12T19:36:45","slug":"nellis-guardian-angels-support-historic-launch-for-nasa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/afspecialwarfare.com\/nellis-guardian-angels-support-historic-launch-for-nasa\/","title":{"rendered":"Nellis Guardian Angels support historic launch for NASA"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Source: DVIDS<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On May 30, the world watched anxiously as history was made when the Falcon 9 prepared to launch as part of NASA\u2019s SpaceX Demonstration Mission 2 at the Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral, Fla.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For the first time since the conclusion of the space shuttle program in 2011, NASA astronauts would be launching from American soil in a commercially built and operated spacecraft on its way to the International Space Station (ISS).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Crowds waited in anticipation as they heard the familiar countdown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThree, two, one…liftoff!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The rocket ignited in a burst of grandeur and lifted off towards its destination. For those watching, it was a truly memorable moment to observe; however, for a select group watching, it was much more than just witnessing it\u2014they were a part of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Three teams of Rescue Specialists stood on-call, with radios in hand and phones fully charged, ready to jump into an aircraft and carry out a search and rescue mission anywhere worldwide in the event of a mission abort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 58th Rescue Squadron\u2019s Guardian Angels assigned to Nellis Air Force Base made up the three-team Space Flight Support Force distributed amongst Patrick AFB, Fla., Joint Base Charleston, S.C., and JB Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, in support of the historic launch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt was great to be a part of history,\u201d said Maj. Lucas Gagliardi, 58th RQS, director of operations. \u201cPararescue has been a part of manned space flight since it began in the 1960s, so to be included in the first team to bring back some of our heritage was a super humbling and awesome experience.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n