Computer: CSA
The Artemis 2 mission has achieved a historic milestone that heralds a new era, and a mark of tradition and achievement for Canada as well. An important milestone along this great journey, as the Orion spacecraft navigates its path across the Moon, Commander Reed Wiseman, along with fellow veteran crew members, honored Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen with a prestigious gold astronaut pin to symbolize that he is now an astronaut who has traveled into space.
This honor makes Jeremy Hansen the first Canadian to officially earn the right to be considered an astronaut, as he was the first Canadian astronaut in history to be assigned to a crew to orbit the Moon. This achievement is an individual achievement and a powerful confirmation of the power of international cooperation that has made human exploration of the Moon possible again fifty years later, after the last human presence in deep space.
Artemis II crew honors Jeremy Hansen with a gold astronaut pin
A gold astronaut pin was presented to Jeremy Hansen while the crew validated the Orion spacecraft’s life support systems in high Earth orbit. According to the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and NASA, the Gold Pin is a “status transition” from Silver Pin candidate to veteran astronaut. Jeremy Hansen has been a fighter pilot (CF-18) for 18 years, so he is now officially part of Canada’s first deep space mission.
Astronauts test Orion’s life support in high radiation
As the Artemis II mission continues to travel toward the Moon, the astronauts are conducting important evaluations of the onboard Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS). The Artemis II technical report describes this mission as the first time humans have operated ECLSS in a deep space radiation environment.During this mission, the astronauts will measure washed carbon dioxide, positive pressure, and oxygen pressure to ensure they can withstand 4 astronauts while flying by the Moon, and collect important information that will enable the astronauts to spend long periods of time on the lunar portal.
Artemis 2 breaks Apollo 13’s distance record
As the mission progresses, the crew will break the previous distance record set by Apollo 13 by flying more than 10,400 kilometers (6,400 miles) beyond the moon. At 400,000 kilometers from Earth – the distance they will be from Earth at this stage of the mission – the crew will have traveled farther than any human has ever traveled from Earth. One of the challenges in this phase of the mission is to test Orion’s communications and navigation systems for deep space operations, providing Mission Control in Houston with a high-bandwidth telemetry link to the crew, even at great distances from the Moon.
How the Artemis Accords built a global crew
The awarding of the pin on a NASA mission to a Canadian citizen is a direct result of the Artemis Accords. In exchange for Canada providing the next generation Canadarm3 robot for the Lunar Gateway, NASA agreed to send Canadian astronauts on its missions over the next 10 to 15 years. This is a reflection of the change from the one-country model of lunar exploration that existed in the 1960s to a model based on cooperation and sustainability for long-term human presence on the Moon, and future missions to Mars.
