Jeremy Hansen is (almost) going to the Moon

From jets to rockets
London, ON
September 2022
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Big day in Canada yesterday, as Col. Jeremy Hansen was named to the Artemis II crew that will, as early as November 2024, board NASA’s SLS rocket with three American crewmates and orbit the Moon.

In doing so, Hansen will be the first Canadian - and the first non-American - to ever leave low Earth orbit. The mission follows last November’s successful uncrewed Artemis I mission, and serves as prep for Artemis III, which will land humans on the lunar surface for the first time since the Apollo 17 mission in 1972*.

The cool thing is this is also a very local story: he was born in my hometown, London, and grew up on a farm just north of the city, near a little hamlet called Ailsa Craig. He learned to fly gliders with the Air Cadets here, and rose to the rank of Colonel in the Royal Canadian Air Force. A few years back, he flew his CF-18 Hornet fighter jet back into town to inspire the next generation of aviators.

The Canadian Space Agency selected him as an astronaut in 2009, and this will be the first flight for the married father of three. He’s served as capsule communicator (aka capcom) for NASA, responsible for all communication between Mission Control and the International Space Station. He is also the first Canadian to lead an astronaut class, and I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone speak of him in anything but glowing adjectives.

I don’t have any archived photos of this Canadian super-achiever, so this pic of his ride, from last year’s Airshow London, will have to do.

Ad astra, Col. Hansen. You’ve already made your nation, and your community, proud.

* Early in my radio career, I was privileged to interview Apollo 17 astronaut Harrison (Jack) Schmitt. He wasn’t quite the final person to leave footsteps on the Moon - Eugene Cernan was last to step back into the LEM - but our 10-minute phone conversation has resonated in my head ever since, and reinforced the power of dreams to a then-impressionable kid with a bit of a technology addiction.

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