'I hope they're proud of it': Jeremy Hansen sees Artemis II call-up as win for Canada
'I'm looking at the moon a little bit differently these days,' says the astronaut from London, Ont.
When Jeremy Hansen of London, Ont., was announced as one of the four astronauts on NASA's Artemis II mission, he didn't just see it as a personal accomplishment, but as a win for all Canadians.
"I really hope people understand that they have enabled this through many, many, many contributions over decades and decades, and I hope they're proud of it," he told The Current's Matt Galloway.
The 47-year-old will be joining Americans Christina Koch, Victor Glover and Reid Wiseman aboard the test mission to return astronauts to the surface of the moon.
The astronauts won't be landing; instead, they'll orbit the moon for 10 days in the Orion spacecraft. There, they'll test key components to prepare Artemis III, the third step in NASA's mission, which plans to place humans back on the moon in 2025.
If all goes well, Hansen will become the first Canadian to orbit the moon when the Orion spacecraft launches in 2024.
Hansen spoke to Galloway about the next step of preparations and what this mission will mean for future generations. Here's part of their conversation.
When did it sink in for you that this was happening?
I don't think it has yet. I think it's still sinking in. It's coming in waves and stages. I'm looking at the moon a little bit differently these days.
I found out officially just over two weeks ago and I've shared that with my family. Super excited, a little bit humbled by the opportunity. So … just really proud.
WATCH: Jeremy Hansen reacts to NASA's Artemis II announcement
What was it like to tell your kids that you're going to the moon?
My kids are 18, 16 and 16 right now. And over the years, I think they've gotten a little tired of my enthusiasm about space sometimes.
In this case, they were really excited — and really authentically excited, and that was super meaningful for me.
Do you have, on your watch or something, some sort of countdown clock that will count you down to November of 2024 when you're off?
No, I really don't. And I think partly because we know this is a test mission and we expect that, you know, things could change.... We might make our timeline, but that's not the most important thing.
It's important to have a timeline goal and something [to push] towards, and we [will] definitely give it our best shot. But if it gets delayed from there … what's important is we do it right, we do it successfully, and this is just one stepping stone in a campaign of missions.
If we're not successful in this mission, then the next one doesn't go to the lunar surface. Our goal is to prepare to buy down the risk for the mission to the lunar surface.
What do you do between now and then, whenever then is?
We'll train, but when you're flying a vehicle for the first time, the training for a lot of it is really developing the vehicle testing and evaluating the vehicle.
So there's a huge team of people we'll be integrating into that team now to add the human element. So how are the humans that are controlling the vehicle? What are the different test profiles we're going to execute while we're on it and then coming back?
So we'll just be working with those people on a day-to-day basis, getting ready [for] the mission.
Everything we accomplish on this mission will only be eclipsed in the very near future, and then humanity will keep marching on.-Astronaut Jeremy Hansen
You said earlier that since you found out, you kind of look at the moon differently in a way. What does that mean for you?
I've always had great respect for the moon. It's always been part of my night sky. I've always thought it was beautiful. Truly, as long as I can remember, I have wanted to go there.
But now, when I look at it, I just kind of think about it as: how far it is. Like, I look at the size of it and I think about, wow, like how far away that is actually going to be.
I was in the middle of last week and looking out the window when the capsule in the simulator was on the other side of the moon and looking back at the Earth, and I was like, "Whoa, Earth is really small. The moon is really big."
Things are just starting to come into focus for me.
There's that amazing Earthrise photo that was taken during Apollo 8 where you see the whole of the planet — and people have read into that for years. And it's given people a sense as to who we are, and who we aren't, in this kind of tiny little speck in the vast universe. You're going to be able to see that. What do you think that's going to be like?
I think it's going to be very impactful — and I know it's going to be impactful. It's going to resonate with my soul, if you will.
But it's going to highlight the importance of bringing that into focus for all of us. I think any of us can look at the world today and say, well, we could be doing better. We just all know we could be doing better as a global species.
I think that's an important aspect of this mission. We have a lot of technical things and learning to do over this mission, but another huge part of this mission is taking the time as humans, all of us, to kind of reflect on our existence here on this planet and the importance of us working together to solve some pretty challenging global problems.
WATCH: Look to space to help solve climate change, says Jeremy Hansen
That's really interesting because, as you said, there's technical things that will be learned from this mission and missions to come.… But that's a philosophical kind of answer to what you think we might learn from you being involved in this.
I think it really is the most important part because it's never one mission that changes the world; it's our mindset.
If you just, like, step back and just look at this micro example of a space mission where Canada has been invited to partner with the United States to go back to the moon, I mean, that's actually pretty incredible.
But the reason is, is that we truly can do more together. It's not easier to work together sometimes. It actually adds complexity. But once you figure out that part, once you get the team humming, you actually can do way more.
That's really what's important about anything we do, is figuring out the methodology to do something bigger and better next time. And everything we accomplish on this mission will only be eclipsed in the very near future, and then humanity will keep marching on.
With files from CBC News. Produced by Julie Crysler. Q&A has been edited for length and clarity.
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