Early Inspiration and Meeting with Chris Hadfield
Long before being selected to orbit the Moon on the Artemis II mission, Jeremy Hansen was a young cadet at the Royal Military College of Canada, carrying a dream that would be shaped by a chance encounter.
In 1995, during his first year at the military college, Hansen met one of his heroes: Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield.
This meeting occurred before Hadfield served as commander of the International Space Station, but Hansen recognized in him the qualities he aspired to embody: a fighter pilot and an astronaut.
Hansen requested Hadfield’s email address and received it immediately.
This brief interaction marked the beginning of Hansen’s journey, which would closely follow Hadfield’s path—first as a fighter pilot, then by joining the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) in 2009.
Throughout his astronaut training, Hadfield served as Hansen’s mentor. Hansen told the BBC in 2014 that the guidance he received was simple but enduring: follow what makes you passionate.
"Jeremy has been getting ready for this flight since he was five years old," Hadfield told Canadian singer Emm Gryner in a podcast in March.
Early Life and Aviation Fascination
Hansen, now 50, grew up on a farm near London, Ontario, where his interest in aviation began at an early age.
As a child, he encountered a page in an encyclopedia featuring Neil Armstrong and an image of an astronaut on the Moon from the 1969 Apollo mission.
"That page is still burnt in my brain," Hansen told Spaceflight Now in an interview posted last month.
Shortly after, he converted his childhood treehouse into an imaginary rocket ship.
During his teenage years, Hansen joined the air cadets youth program and pursued studies in space science and physics at university.
He eventually became a fighter pilot, flying CF-18s from the Cold Lake army base in Alberta and working with the North American Aerospace Defense Command (Norad).
Selection for Artemis II and Mission Details
Fourteen years after joining the CSA, Hansen was selected for Artemis II, the first crewed mission to travel around the Moon in over 50 years.
Over a 10-day period, the crew of four astronauts will journey farther from Earth than any humans before them.
Hansen is the only non-American on the mission, accompanied by mission commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, and fellow mission specialist Christina Koch.
In an interview with the CSA, Hansen acknowledged the mission’s challenges.
"To do something that has never been done before means that your team is very likely to face failure," Hansen said. "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," he said.
Personal Touches and Cultural Recognition
For the mission, Hansen is carrying four Moon-shaped pendants, each embedded with a birthstone representing his wife and three teenage children.
His blue spacesuit features a mission patch he commissioned from Anishinaabe artist Henry Guimond, with contributions from Dave Courchene III of Sagkeeng First Nation, Manitoba.
The patch’s heptagonal shape and animal imagery reference Indigenous teachings that emphasize how people should treat one another—with love, respect, courage, and humility.
Hansen has stated that the patch serves as his way of honoring Indigenous peoples in Canada and their traditional knowledge.
Anticipation and Reflections on the Mission
Earlier this week, Hansen spoke with BBC science editor Rebecca Morelle and 13 Minutes podcast presenter Tim Peake about his excitement for his first views of Earth during the initial hour of spaceflight.
He anticipated that the mission would later provide views with the Moon in the foreground and Earth visible in the distance.
"I hope humanity will stop for a moment when four humans are on the far side of the Moon, and just look at some of the imagery that we are sharing - and just be reminded that we can do a better job as humans of just lifting each other up," he said.
"Not destroying but creating together."
