Canadian Space Agency (CSA) astronaut Col (RCAF) Jeremy Hansen has been named as the first Canadian assigned to fly a deep space mission, part of NASA’s Artemis II crewed test flight to the Moon. The lunar fly-past mission is currently scheduled to launch from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center in November 2024.

Hansen has been assigned as mission specialist 2 and is proceeding with early-stage preparations alongside three American crewmates — Capt (U.S. Navy) Reid Wiseman will be flying in the role of commander, Capt (U.S. Navy) Victor Glover in the role of pilot, and NASA astronaut Christina Koch in the role of mission specialist 1.

While Hansen has provided critical support to dozens of international missions and on-orbit projects since first donning the classic blue flight suit of the astronaut corps, Artemis II will be his first flight to the stars. He was selected as an astronaut candidate in 2009, part of Canada’s third recruitment campaign. Through a rigorous, multi-month evaluation phase, he and David Saint-Jacques were identified to be strongest from a pool of over 5,300 applicants. Saint-Jacques flew to the International Space Station (ISS) in the role of flight engineer on Expeditions 57, 58, and 59.

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