RCAF - Royal Canadian Air Force

04/01/2026 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 04/01/2026 08:26

Making Canadian history: CAF pilot set to travel around the Moon

April 1st, 2026 - Defence Stories

By: 3 Canadian Space Division Public Affairs

The crew of Artemis II, Reid Wiseman, Christina Koch, Col Jeremy Hansen, and Victor Glover (left to right), at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. The second part of quarantine, a few days before the launch, is at the Kennedy Space Center crew quarters in Florida.

Credit: NASA/Robert Markowitz



This week, Canada will make history when Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF)pilot Colonel (Col) JeremyHansen - currently serving as an astronaut with the Canadian Space Agency (CSA)- becomes the first Canadian (and first non-American) to participate in a lunar mission. Col Hansenis set to make history on April 1, as part of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA)first crewed mission to the moon since the Apollo missions more than 50 yearsago. This mission is called Artemis II.

Artemis II is the first, historic crewed test flight of NASA's Artemis Campaign, a multi-mission campaign set to create a durable lunar presence, paving the way for human exploration of Mars.

Following the success of the Artemis I uncrewed test flight in 2022, the Artemis II mission will travel around the Moon to ensure all of the Orion spacecraft's systems work, as designed, with a crew of four personnel on board. Crewmembers will live and work aboard the Orion spacecraft through their approximately 10-day journey around the Moon.

During Artemis II, four astronauts will fly around the Moon in the Orion spacecraft. The approximately 10-day flight test will pave the way for lunar surface missions.

Credit: Credits: CSA, NASA



The Artemis II mission will launch from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The four-person crew will launch aboard the Orion spacecraft and Space Launch System (SLS)rocket, orbiting Earth twice to verify Orion's systems are working while still close to home before heading into deep space for a lunar flyby to validate human-rated systems, including evaluating astronaut health, testing life-support, navigation, and communication systems. The Artemis IIcrew will travel further than any human in more than 50 years. During their voyage among the stars, they will observe lunar geology and monitor space weather that will inform future Artemis campaign Moon landings.

Col Hansen serves as a Mission Specialist on Artemis II. Serving alongside Col Hansenon this groundbreaking mission are NASA astronauts Mission Commander Reid Wiseman, Mission Pilot Victor Glover, and fellow Mission Specialist Christina Hammock Koch.

CSA astronaut and RCAF fighter pilot Col Jeremy Hansen takes part in an Orion Crew Survival System (OCSS) pressurized testing. He stayed in his custom-built OCSS suit for several hours. It was tested for functionality, fit, comfort, pressure points in different positions (sitting in the mock-up of the Orion capsule seat with seat belts attached, standing, bending down, walking) and at different pressures while wearing the helmet visor closed and gloves. Artemis astronauts will wear the bright orange suit on launch day, in emergency situations, high-risk parts of missions near the Moon, and during the high-speed return to Earth. The suits can keep astronauts alive for up to six days if Orion were to lose cabin pressure during its journey.

Credit: NASA/Josh Valcarcel



Born in London, Ontario, Col Hansen is a Royal Military College graduate holding a Bachelor of Science in Space Science and a Master of Science in Physics. Among Col Hansen's many accolades, he is a former Air Cadet and a current RCAF CF-18fighter pilot with NORAD and Snowbirds experience. He was recruited into the CSA through the third Canadian Astronaut Recruitment Campaign in 2009.

Space launch is complex, and NASA has now set April 1as the target date for Artemis II, following earlier planning that included multiple launch windows between February 8and no later than April 30.

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