Q&A: Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen prepares for lunar mission [Video]

Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen is preparing for a lunar mission as a mission specialist for the Artemis II crew.

Hansen spoke with the CBC’s Travis Dolynny about the mission, set to launch in April 2026.

The following has been edited for length and clarity.

Travis Dolynny: What are the objectives of the Artemis II mission?

Jeremy Hansen: You kinda have to think of Artemis II as an Artemis program, a campaign of missions that we ultimately think about Mars. But in the interim, we’re focused on the Moon as our next stepping stone, so returning humans to the surface of the Moon. And so for Artemis II, this is very much a test flight.

So we have a new rocket system and we’ve flown it once with no humans on it. This will be the first time we put humans on this rocket, in this capsule. It’s called the Orion capsule on top of the Spatial Space Launch System. …