By Grant Warkentin
This afternoon, human beings will be going back to the moon for the first time in 54 years, and one of them is a Canadian.
The Artemis II mission is currently in countdown mode. The four astronauts are now on the launchpad waiting for ignition, which is set for 6:24 pm EDT this evening.
Last night Jeremy Hansen, representing Canada as the team’s mission specialist, recorded one final message before heading into deep space.
“Canada, I am thinking of you, and I am hoping that all of you see your greatness reflected in this journey around the moon,” he said. “I’m just so proud of all of you.”
Hansen was born on January 27, 1976 and has a background as a fighter pilot. He has a Bachelor of Science in space science, and a Masters degree in physics.
He credits his time as a youth in Air Cadets for helping him develop the discipline and self-confidence neded to be accepted for officer training in the Canadian Armed Forces. He completed his basic training in Chilliwack BC in 1994.
From 2004-2009, Hansen served as a CF-18 fighter pilot with 441 Tactical Fighter Squadron and 409 Tactical Fighter Squadron. He was also the Combat Operations Officer at 4 Wing Operations. He was selected as a recruit for the Canadian Space Agency’s astronaut program in 2009. In 2017, he was the first Canadian to be entrusted with leading a NASA astronaut class, training candidates from the USA and Canada.
The Artemis II moon mission will see the five-person crew loop around the moon and return to Earth on a 10-day journey. It’s the first time humans have travelled beyond low Earth orbit since the Apollo 17 mission in 1972.
The mission is essentially a test flight, to prove NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rockets and its Orion spacecraft in a deep-space environment before attempting a crewed lunar landing in a future mission. The technology has already been tested extensively: the Artemis I mission in 2022 sent an uncrewed Orion spacecraft to orbit the moon. The mission was used to test life support systems and robotic payloads, making sure they will be safe for human beings. The mission was largely successful, although it revealed some deficiencies in the heat shielding design which have since been adjusted for Artemis II.
The success of Artemis II will influence NASA’s future plans to establish a sustainable human presence on the moon, which include a permanent lunar base at its south pole. A lunar base will be crucial for future crewed missions to Mars.
The Artemis II mission is similar to the Apollo 8 mission in 1968, which was the first human-crewed orbit of a spacecraft around the moon and a test flight which made the historic Apollo 11 moon landing possible.
The mission features several firsts – Hansen is the first Canadian to go to the moon. The crew also includes pilot Victor Glover, the first Black astronaut to travel to the moon, and mission specialist Christina Koch, who already holds the record for the longest single spaceflight by a woman, and who will now become the first woman to fly beyond low Earth orbit. The mission commander is Reid Wiseman, NASA’s former Chief Astronaut and also a veteran of the International Space Station.
Today’s launch can be viewed live, we have embedded the link below.
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