Because the longest serving astronaut with the Canadian House Company — he was chosen in Could 2009 — former CF-18 fighter pilot Col. Jeremy Hansen has fulfilled many duties in help of the CSA and NASA.
“My position has sort of developed over time,” Hansen advised SpaceQ. As a consequence of his many public appearances in Canada, the US and the world as a Canadian astronaut, “I really feel like I’ve turn into a little bit of a House Ambassador to assist individuals perceive what’s doable [and] to share completely different methods which are working with respect to commercialization in area,” he stated. “This has turn into a ardour venture for me.”
Past spreading the great phrase about area, Hansen is concerned within the growth of ‘Connected Care Medical Modules’ to maintain astronauts in flight. He’s additionally coaching to be an Artemis mission CAPCOM (Capsule Communicator, the direct radio hyperlink between Mission Management and astronauts in area). This position allowed him to have a entrance seat throughout the latest unmanned Artemis I mission to the Moon.
“Having a number of alternatives to take a seat in Mission Management whereas the Orion capsule was on its technique to the Moon, orbiting the Moon, after which on its manner residence was fairly spectacular,” stated Hansen. “In fact, the CAPCOM console is all about supporting the astronauts on a car, and we didn’t have any astronauts on that car, as everyone knows. So the CAPCOM console didn’t have any official roles, however what we do need to do is perceive how we’re going to combine with the workforce the following time once we do have astronauts on board the car.”
Primarily based on the success of the Artemis I mission — “it went loads smoother than I believe anybody might realistically anticipate for a primary take a look at flight” — Hansen expects the manned Artemis II moon shot to happen someday in 2024. “It’s very thrilling for us on the Canadian House Company as a result of we all know we’re going to have a Canadian astronaut on Artemis II, which is wonderful,” he stated. “And I believe what’s actually vital is for Canadians to know that they need to be actually proud that we have been invited to take part in Artemis II.”
Canada has been given this seat because of the “actual worth” this nation brings to NASA via expertise just like the House Shuttle’s Canadarm, the Worldwide House Station’s Canadarm2, and now Canadarm3 for the Moon-orbiting Gateway area station, he defined. “Creating area robotics for deep area is a really completely different drawback than Low Earth Orbit area robotics,” stated Hansen. “You get one shot at it: You ship your robotic arm on the market and it simply has to work.”
Fortuitously, Canada has “the monitor report and the expertise and the experience to tackle that drawback,” he stated. As properly, “we’ve not too long ago introduced that we’ll be sending a rover to the Moon to assist with the Artemis program and understanding how we are going to discover within the South Polar area of the Moon.”
Each of those are main contributions to NASA’s Moon and Mars missions, and clarify why, “as a reputable associate, we’ve been invited to fly on Artemis II,” stated Hansen. Once more, “I hope Canadians are happy with that, and I hope it makes them perceive that we will do some unimaginable issues if we simply set huge objectives.”
As for which Canadian astronaut will probably be flying on Artemis II, plus an ISS mission arising in 2025? “All of this stuff are fluid, and that’s why no choices have been made but,” stated Hansen. He expects these astronaut assignments to be made “within the subsequent first half of subsequent yr or earlier.”
