A Londoner will be the first Canadian in deep space.
Jeremy Hansen has been selected as part of the crew for the Artemis II mission.
Hansen, who is married with three kids, was born in London, Ont. in 1976 and grew up on a farm near Ailsa Craig before moving to Ingersoll.
It’s been an emotional day for Western University Earth Sciences Professor Gordon Osinski after learning that his friend would be going to the moon.
“This is going to be a major milestone for the Canadian Space Program,” said Osinski. “It will go down in history.”
Hansen has been a regular speaker at Western, “he has been here for conferences and he’s joined me on four expeditions to the Arctic,” said Osinski.
Hansen started out as a member of the 614 Air Cadets Squadron in London in 1988. He became a glider pilot in 1992 and then at the age of 17 he obtained his private pilots licence.
“It’s an honour for our squadron,” says Captain Travis Buckle, of the 614 Air Cadets Squadron. “Many cadets join to get their glider licence or pilots licence but he is showing them that they can reach for the stars.”
Artemis II is currently slated to launch as early as November 2024 and will be the first crewed mission to the Moon since the final Apollo mission took flight in 1972.
The mission will include a figure-8 manoeuvre around the Moon then return to Earth.
With files from CTV News London's Nick Paparella.
