Astronaut Jeremy Hansen, 1st Canadian to Orbit the Moon
Jeremy Hansen has been selected as one of four astronauts for NASA’s Artemis II mission, alongside Christina Koch, Victor Glover, and Reid Wiseman.
Hansen is a 47-year-old Canadian astronaut who expressed disbelief at his selection, saying, “For me, it’s a bit unreal still.” The Orion spacecraft, which will orbit the moon, will be piloted by the four astronauts for ten days, testing crucial components to prepare for the Artemis III mission that aims to land humans on the moon in 2025. The Artemis II mission will take the four astronauts farther than any previous human-rated spacecraft.
Canada was awarded a seat on the mission due to its contributions to the Lunar Gateway space station, as well as building a lunar rover provided by Canadensys Aerospace.
Hansen’s selection is particularly significant for Canada. François-Philippe Champagne, the minister of innovation, science, and industry, believes that Canada’s participation in the Artemis program will create thousands of highly skilled jobs, boost innovation, and be a source of national pride for years to come. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has also congratulated Hansen on his selection, saying that he will “do all Canadians proud.”
Hansen has always been passionate about space exploration, having joined the Air Cadet Program at the age of 12 and studied space science at the Royal Military College in Kingston, Ontario.
Since being recruited by the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) in 2009, Hansen has undergone extensive training, including spending six days in an Italian cave and seven days off the coast of Key Largo, Florida, as part of NASA’s Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO) project. Hansen has also been involved in training astronauts from both Canada and the United States and served as Capcom at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. Hansen’s role on the Artemis II mission involves piloting a spacecraft that no human has ever flown before, and he is currently preparing for the mission.