PM Carney, Artemis II crew exchange gifts in Ottawa

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‘Thank you for inspiring us all’: PM Carney speaks with Artemis II crew

Artemis II mission ‘shines a light on what can be done’ with Canada-U.S. collaboration

Prime Minister Mark Carney met with the Artemis II crew in Ottawa Wednesday morning to exchange gifts.

Canadian crewmember Jeremy Hansen gifted Carney with a plaque bearing the Canadian flag that was onboard the Orion vessel during the moon mission.

In exchange, Carney offered each crewmember a commemorative astronaut coin and gave Hansen the flag that flew on Ottawa’s Peace Tower during the team’s splashdown on Earth.

More details to come. Previous CP story continues below.

The astronauts who captured the world’s imagination during a journey to the far side of the moon last month will bring their space lore to Ottawa today.

Canadian Jeremy Hansen and his Artemis II crewmates have a series of events in the capital, including a scheduled meeting with Prime Minister Mark Carney.

The 10-day mission took Hansen, mission commander Reid Wiseman and astronauts Victor Glover and Christina Koch, farther from Earth than any humans before them.

Following their meeting with Carney, the crew will then visit the Canadian Museum of Nature to meet with some area school students.

Hansen and his crewmates are also scheduled to take part in a sold-out public discussion about their mission to the far side of the moon and its impact on the future of space exploration at the National Arts Centre later in the day.

They will be joined by Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jenni Gibbons, who was part of the team at NASA’s Mission Control Center in Houston during Artemis II’s journey.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 13, 2026.

David Baxter, The Canadian Press