RMC graduate Jeremy Hansen to be part of Artemis II crew to fly around the Moon

A Royal Military College of Canada graduate will be among the flight crew to fly around the Moon, an important first step in NASA’s long-term plan to return to the Moon, and eventually continue onward toward Mars. Canadian astronaut Colonel Jeremy Hansen has been chosen as one of four astronauts to fly on Artemis II, the first crewed flight test to the Moon since Apollo.

Colonel Hansen has been working towards becoming an astronaut most of his life. “The idea of exploring new places and accomplishing the seemingly impossible excites me. Being an astronaut affords the opportunity to be part of an amazing team that creates solutions for complex problems. To do something that has never been done before means that your team is very likely to face failure. I like the fact that in space, we are committed to bold goals to the extent that we will not let periodic failure stop our forward progress,” Hansen said.

Born on January 27, 1976, in London, Ontario, Hansen was raised on a farm near Ailsa Craig, Ontario, until moving to Ingersoll for his high school years.

Colonel Hansen’s flight experience began at the age of 12, when he joined the Air Cadet Program. He obtained both glider and private pilot licenses through this program by the age of 17. Colonel Hansen earned a Bachelor of Science in Space Science (first class honours) from Royal Military College of Canada in Kingston, Ontario in 1999. He earned a Master of Science in Physics, also from RMC, in 2000, with a research focus on Wide Field of View Satellite Tracking.

He then completed his CF-18 Fighter Pilot Training in 410 Tactical Fighter Operational Training Squadron from 2003 to 2004 and from 2004 to 2007, Colonel Hansen served as a CF-18 fighter pilot with 409 Tactical Fighter Squadron and 441 Tactical Fighter Squadron, where his responsibilities included NORAD Operations, Deployed Exercises and Arctic Flying Operations.

Colonel Hansen was one of two recruits selected by the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) in May 2009 through the third Canadian Astronaut Recruitment Campaign. He is one of 14 members of the 20th National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) astronaut class. In 2011, Colonel Hansen graduated from Astronaut Candidate Training, which included scientific and technical briefings, intensive instruction in International Space Station (ISS) systems, extravehicular activities (EVAs, or spacewalks), robotics, physiological training, T-38 flight training, Russian language courses, and sea and wilderness survival training. 

The Artemis II flight test will be NASA’s first Artemis mission with crew and will pave the way to land the first woman and next man on the Moon on Artemis III. The mission will launch a crew of four astronauts from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The Artemis II crew will travel 10,300 kilometres beyond the far side of the Moon. From this vantage point, they will be able to see the Earth and the Moon from Orion’s windows, with the Moon close in the foreground and the Earth nearly a quarter-million miles in the background. With a return trip of about four days, the mission is expected to last just over 10 days.