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Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen is poised to make history this week as the first Canadian and first non-American to travel beyond low-Earth orbit, joining NASA’s Artemis II mission to the Moon.
The mission could launch as early as Wednesday evening from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, marking a major milestone in the new era of lunar exploration. Hansen will fly as a mission specialist alongside NASA astronauts Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, and Mission Specialist Christina Koch.
Artemis II will be the first crewed mission to travel to the Moon since Apollo 17 in 1972, ending more than five decades without human journeys beyond Earth’s orbit.
A 10-day journey around the Moon
The four-person crew will spend about 10 days in space aboard NASA’s Orion spacecraft. Unlike the Apollo missions, Artemis II will not land on the Moon. Instead, the spacecraft will travel around the Moon using a free-return trajectory, slingshotting around the lunar surface before returning to Earth and splashing down in the Pacific Ocean.
Experts say the mission is designed to test systems and rebuild operational knowledge needed for future lunar landings.
“Part of the process in establishing a greater understanding of operations around and on the moon is rebuilding a lot of the knowledge that was lost for more than 50 years,” said Jonathan Kelly, an aerospace professor at the University of Toronto.
First step toward Mars
The Artemis program is intended to go far beyond the Moon. According to former NASA chief economist Alexander MacDonald, Artemis II represents the first step toward long-term deep-space exploration, including eventual missions to Mars.
“The ambitions are much greater,” MacDonald said. “This is the first step to a larger program that will ultimately go on to Mars.”
NASA recently unveiled plans that include regular lunar missions and at least one Moon landing per year starting in 2028, along with the construction of a permanent lunar base by 2030.
Canada’s role in the new lunar era
Canada’s participation in Artemis highlights the country’s long-standing expertise in space robotics and satellite technology. Canadian technology will play a key role in building the Lunar Gateway, the planned space station that will orbit the Moon.
The Gateway will use Canadarm3, the next generation of the iconic Canadian robotic arms that have supported space missions for decades. Canada’s contribution to this technology helped secure Hansen’s place on the Artemis II crew.
Calls for greater space investment
Hansen’s historic flight also comes as Canada reassesses its investment in the space sector. Earlier this month, the Canadian government announced $200 million for a new spaceport in Nova Scotia aimed at enabling independent satellite launches.
Despite these steps, Canada still ranks last in public space spending among OECD Space Forum member countries, according to recent data.
Supporters of increased investment argue that the space industry could boost technological innovation and help address long-standing productivity challenges in Canada’s economy.
“That is how you push frontiers and the envelopes,” MacDonald said. “We have an incredible group of engineers and scientists, and we need to give them a hard problem and give them the resources to solve it.”
