Rocket to the Moon after 50 years: 1)Canada’s Jeremy Hansen rockets toward the moon with Artemis II after engine burn; 2)’Be in that moment’: Astronaut Jeremy Hansen’s wife prepares for his lunar mission

Courtesy Barrie360.com and Canadian Press

By Kelly Geraldine Malone, April 3, 2026

Canadian Jeremy Hansen is headed toward the moon as part of the Artemis II lunar mission after a nearly six-minute engine burn to bust out of orbit Thursday evening.

Hansen, serving as mission specialist for Artemis II, is the first non-American to travel beyond low Earth orbit.

Also on board the Orion spacecraft, named Integrity by the crew, are veteran NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch.

After the spacecraft successfully completed a manoeuvre known as a translunar injection, Hansen had a message for the people of Earth.

“With that successful TLI, the crew’s feeling pretty good up here on our way to the moon, and we just wanted to communicate to everyone around the planet who’s working to make Artemis possible that we firmly felt the power of your perseverance during every second of that burn,” Hansen told mission control in Houston.

“Humanity has once again shown what we are capable of, and it’s your hopes for the future that carry us now on this journey around the moon.”

After Hansen spoke, fellow Canadian astronaut Jenni Gibbons, his backup, hugged her American colleague Chris Birch at mission control’s capsule communicator desk.

Gibbons is serving as a voice link from Earth to space, part of the team coaching Hansen and the other astronauts on key mission objectives.

She would have gone up into space had Hansen been unable to fly.

The historic lunar mission successfully launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., on Wednesday.

“We are going for all humanity,” Hansen said just before the final countdown.

They spent just over a full day near the Earth before firing the main engine to propel the spacecraft on humanity’s first voyage to the moon in more than 50 years.

Lt.-Gen. Jamie Speiser-Blanchet, commander of the Royal Canadian Air Force, watched Wednesday’s launch from the Florida-based space centre. She said the experience was emotional and inspiring.

Hansen has been a member of the Royal Canadian Air Force for more than 30 years. Speiser-Blanchet said it’s really important for all serving members to see his achievements.

“He’s really just a wonderful demonstration of what it means to serve Canada,” she said. “(He) is such a good ambassador for Canada and demonstration of what hard work and professionalism and leadership and real humanity can do.”

The 10-day journey will see the astronauts fly around the moon — and they could potentially see parts of the moon’s far side that no human has ever laid eyes on.

NASA’s future plans for a sustainable moon base hinged on Wednesday’s launch going forward. The goal is to have a lunar landing by 2028.

Lisa Campbell, president of the Canadian Space Agency, said this mission will show the limitless opportunities “as we open up a new economy in the moon, and as we bring the benefits to space here on Earth.”

Canada’s space robotics, including its lunar utility rover, will play an important role as humanity explores deep space, she said after Wednesday’s launch. Canadians are also interested in power generation, position navigation timing and communications as space travel expands, Campbell said.

“This is Jeremy’s first space flight, so we’re thrilled for him, but he also profoundly believes that this mission will help show the world the benefits of space flight,” she said.

The astronauts were testing the capabilities of the Orion capsule after the historic launch. NASA said Wednesday night they did a “proximity operations” test to manually pilot it — much the way they would if they were docking with another spacecraft.

They were also able to solve an issue that could have become an uncomfortable problem during the mission — the toilet malfunctioned when the crew reached low orbit.

Mission control guided astronauts through some plumbing tricks to repair the lunar loo.

— With files from The Associated Press

2)’Be in that moment’: Astronaut Jeremy Hansen’s wife prepares for his lunar mission

Courtesy Barrie360.com and Canadian Press

By Kelly Geraldine Malone, April 1, 2026.

As Jeremy Hansen prepares to begin a historic mission to the moon aboard the Artemis II, his wife says his family will be trying to take in every single moment.

If everything goes as planned, Catherine Hansen will be on the roof of the launch control centre at Florida’s Kennedy Space Center Wednesday evening to watch her husband begin a 10-day lunar fly-around.

“I’m really trying to encourage everyone — and very, very specifically myself — to be in that moment and to allow whatever emotions may come,” she told The Canadian Press on Tuesday. “There will be excitement, there will be exhilaration, there will be terror and fear.”

Jeremy Hansen, 50, of London, Ont., will serve as the mission specialist for Artemis II and become the first non-American to travel beyond low Earth orbit.

He will be joined by veteran NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch.

The world will be watching this mission, which will send humans back to the moon for the first time in more than 50 years. For the Hansen family it marks the culmination of 16 years of preparation and the fulfilment of a lifetime dream.

Catherine Hansen, an accomplished obstetrician-gynecologist, met her husband in Moose Jaw, Sask., when she went to watch her brother get his Air Force pilot wings. Jeremy Hansen told her right away he planned to be an astronaut.

She said she initially thought it was “a crazy thing to say out loud,” but after a little contemplation decided that “if he’s saying it out loud, he must really mean it.”

“And as I got to know him, even over that day, weeks, months later, I realized he meant every word of it,” she said with a wide smile. “And we were going to do everything we could to make it happen.”

Jeremy Hansen was a fighter pilot when he became one of two recruits selected by the Canadian Space Agency in 2009. Catherine Hansen said they had a look at their lives together, what they wanted and how they could both accomplish it.

“I cannot really explain to people how important it is to just lift each other up, and that’s exactly what we’ve done,” she said. “He’s done that with my work and my business. I’ve done that with him and his work.”

They’ve now been married 23 years — most of which they’ve spent connected to NASA.

To watch her husband live out his childhood dream “feels like no less than a miracle,” she said.

She said their family couldn’t have done it without the help of extended family and friends, the Canadian military, the space agency and other government supports.

Lt.-Gen. Jamie Speiser-Blanchet, commander of the Royal Canadian Air Force, said she could not be more proud of the Canadian astronaut who has spent 30 years in the service.

“It’s just a real pleasure to see his hard work pay off in this way,” she said Tuesday at the Kennedy Space Center.

King Charles III also sent Hansen and his crewmates “heartfelt good wishes” on their “momentous endeavour.”

“May the stars align in your favour, and may your safe return inspire countless others to uphold the values of sustainability, cooperation and wonder that the Astra Carta inspires,” said a statement posted on social media citing a framework for sustainability in space exploration.

Jeremy Hansen has also been motivated by the support of Canadians, his wife said. He may be the one sitting on the rocket, she said, “but it is not just his dreams that are being realized.”

To represent those shared aspirations, Jeremy Hansen is taking a personal mission patch with him into space.

It was created by Anishinaabe artist Henry Guimond. The shape of the patch and the animals it depicts are references to the traditional First Nations teachings of the Seven Sacred Laws, which was shared with the Canadian astronaut before his lunar journey.

A Canadian flag at the top of the patch recognizes all the people across the country who made the mission possible — a way of symbolically bringing the country along for the journey. 

Other patch symbols acknowledge his service in the Royal Canadian Air Force, humanity and his family.

The Hansen family has spent the days before the mission enjoying time together when they can. It will be incredible to watch her husband represent Canada on the mission, Catherine Hansen said, but she’s also excited for him to share the experience with Canadians after.

“He’s also, believe it or not, really looking forward to having the opportunity to share something that very few, if any, humans have ever experienced,” she said. 

“He really has the heart for wanting people to go on this ride with him.”