A new milestone in Canadian space history

Canadian Space Agency (CSA) astronaut Jeremy Hanson will become the first Canadian to fly into lunar orbit through the Artemis 2 mission. This mission, scheduled to be launched as early as April 1, 2025, is expected to be a historic moment in which Canada becomes the second country in the world to send its citizens to deep space, following the United States.

Hanson is a former Royal Canadian Air Force fighter pilot and was selected as a CSA astronaut in 2009. However, it took a long time of 14 years to actually assign the mission. This was due to structural limitations in which CSA's contribution to International Space Station (ISS) activities was only less than 3%, and astronaut missions were assigned only once every six years.

Expertise accumulated over 14 years

During the long waiting period, Hanson never stopped. He participated in the development of repair tools for the dark matter detector mounted on the ISS and served as an advisor on Canadian space policy. In particular, he became the first Canadian to oversee the joint U.S.-Canada astronaut training schedule selected in 2017.

His expertise and dedication were widely recognized, and when the Artemis 2 crew was announced, then-Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau personally called to congratulate him.

The background to Hanson's ability to board Artemis 2 is the contribution of Canada's 'Canadarm3' robotic arm. This robotic arm was originally scheduled to be mounted on NASA's lunar orbital space station 'Gateway', but NASA recently suspended the Gateway plan and changed direction to focus on building a lunar base.

Crew composition with historical significance

In addition to Hanson, three NASA astronauts will board Artemis 2. They are mission commander Reed Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, and mission specialist Christina Koch. In particular, this mission has historical significance in terms of diversity, as Glover becomes the first black person to leave Low Earth orbit and Koch becomes the first woman.

Hanson recently shared his thoughts in a live Q&A on the CSA YouTube channel. “I reflect on what this mission tells us about Canada: to become the second country in the world to send humans to deep space. This is not a gift, it is the result of decades of hard work. We have created and innovated technologies, and are now a significant partner on the world stage in space.”

From childhood dreams to reality

For Hanson, exploring the moon has been a dream since childhood. “As a child, seeing an image of a man standing on the moon changed my perspective. I started seeing the moon differently and wanted to go there. I decorated my treehouse as a spaceship with dials and controls, and explored space in my imagination.”

He expressed confidence about his first space flight, saying, "Of course there will be pressure, but it will be fun." “I trust the team. When we face challenges together, we are capable of doing what needs to be done, and we are a real pleasure to work with.”

The successful performance of Artemis 2's mission is expected to be an important stepping stone for the manned lunar landing of Artemis 4, scheduled for 2028.