Community over the moon as London’s Jeremy Hansen to be first Canadian in deep space | 24CA News
Community members are over the moon as London, Ont.-born astronaut Jeremy Hansen will quickly put together for lift-off in making Canadian area historical past as the primary non-American to enterprise into deep area within the Artemis 11 mission subsequent yr.
The 47-year-old mission specialist might be certainly one of 4 astronauts within the 10-day mission set to launch in November 2024, based on NASA and the Canadian Space Agency.
The different members assigned for the mission embody Christina Hammock Koch, Victor Glover and G. Reid Wiseman, all American.
This picture offered by NASA reveals, from left, NASA Astronauts Christina Koch, Victor Glover, Reid Wiseman, and Canadian Space Agency Astronaut Jeremy Hansen on the Johnson Space Center in Houston on March 29, 2023. On Monday, April 3, 2023, NASA introduced them because the crew who would be the first to fly the Orion capsule, launching atop a Space Launch System rocket from Kennedy Space Center no sooner than late 2024. They is not going to land and even go into lunar orbit, however slightly fly across the moon and head straight again to Earth, a prelude to a lunar touchdown by two others a yr later.
(Josh Valcarcel/NASA by way of AP)
“There are two reasons why a Canadian is going to the moon… the first one is American leadership,” Hansen stated on Monday. “It is just not misplaced on any of us that the United States may select to return to the moon by themselves. But America has made a really deliberate selection over many years to curate a worldwide crew, and that, in my definition, is true management.
“Our scientists, our engineers, the Canadian Space Agency, the Canadian Armed Forces across government, all of our leadership working together … have added up to this moment where a Canadian is going to the moon with our international partnership, and it is glorious,” he continued.
“At the end of it all, I am left in awe of being reminded what strong leadership, setting big goals with a passion to collaborate and a can-do attitude can achieve, and we are going to the moon together. Let’s go.”
According to officers, astronauts final visited the moon in December 1972, closing out the Apollo program. In complete, 24 males — all Americans — have visited the moon and solely half of these have walked on it.
Gordon Osinski, a professor of earth and planetary science at Western University, informed Global News that “this mission is going to be huge.”
“This is the next big step in returning humans to the surface of the moon, (and) this will be the first ever mission that will have a crew in the Orion spacecraft,” he stated. “If you remember back to November, that was the Artemis I mission, and it was completely un-crewed so no people on board.”
In regards to the upcoming mission, he stated that “Canada is moving into a new chapter of space exploration.”
Prior to Hansen being chosen as part of the Artemis II mission, Osinski stated that he can be a “fantastic” selection.
“Jeremy has been in the astronaut program for a long time, and he’s a Royal Canadian Air Force pilot, so I think he’d be ideally suited,” he stated.
According to the Government of Canada, Hansen started his journey into aviation at 12 years outdated when he joined the 614 Royal Canadian Air Cadet Squadron in London.
London mayor Josh Morgan stated that he was “ecstatic” when he heard the news of Hansen being chosen to participate on this historic mission, saying that “this is something that will inspire countless individuals in the community, while also serving as a source of substantial civic pride.”
“Mr. Hansen has always been a remarkable ambassador, and I couldn’t be happier for him and his family,” Morgan continued in an announcement. “On behalf of all Londoners, we congratulate him on this remarkable achievement and will be watching with great excitement next year when he makes Canadian outer space exploration history.”
Though born in London, Hansen was raised on a farm close to Ailsa Craig, Ont. North Middlesex mayor Brian Rupp informed Global News that he wasn’t shocked to listen to the news on Monday.
“He joined the Canadian Space Agency in 2009 and he’s been very dedicated to that program and worked very hard to get to where he is today. So, congratulations to him and his whole family,” he stated.
In reacting to the news, Rupp shared a narrative as “a comment to his character.”
“The last time he was here at home, he spoke to the youth in Parkhill and Ailsa Craig at a couple of events that were going on at the time. There was a lot of people, of course, wanting (for) pictures taken with him and everything, but he was laser-focused at delivering his speech to the youth of the community.
“He’s really an example of if you work hard enough, you can do anything,” he added. “He knew what he wanted from a very young age. He flew gliders as soon as it was legal for him to do it. So he was very focused on what he wanted to do and now he’s going to reach his pinnacle of where he wanted to go.”
Rupp stated that as a group, the thrill is simply going to construct as Hansen prepares for carry off subsequent November.
“In a community of around 1,000, who would’ve thought that something like this could happen and all I can say is that it’s just incredible,” he stated. “It’s going to be very exciting for him and for the community.”
– with information from Global News’ Aaron D’Andrea, Saba Aziz and The Canadian Press.
© 2023 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
