As the Artemis II astronauts set a new record on Monday for being the farthest humans from Earth, Canadian Jeremy Hansen said they hoped others would soon go even farther.
The six-hour lunar flyby, which began at 2:45 p.m. eastern time, is the highlight of NASA’s first return to the moon since the Apollo era, with three Americans and one Canadian — a step toward landing boot prints near the moon’s south pole in just two years.
“It is blowing my mind what you can see with the naked eye from the moon right now. It is just unbelievable,” Hansen radioed ahead of the flyby. “We most importantly choose this moment to challenge this generation and the next to make sure this record is not long-lived."
"It's extraordinary to be on the far side of the moon (...) looking back at the Earth," said Hansen, telling his family he "would be back with them shortly."
The Artemis II mission is historic for Canada, with Hansen being the first non-American to fly beyond low Earth orbit, Tim Haltigin, a senior scientist with the Canadian Space Agency, told The Canadian Press at the agency's headquarters on Montreal's South Shore.
Haltigin praised Hansen’s character and leadership. “He’s incredibly capable — an amazing pilot and astronaut — but what really stands out is who he is as a person,” he said, describing the Canadian astronaut from London, Ont., as grounded and well-respected by colleagues.
Also at the Canadian Space Agency headquarters, Canadian astronaut David Saint-Jacques reflected on the significance of Jeremy Hansen’s role in Artemis II, calling it “a great source of pride” and “a great source of joy.” He said Hansen “embodies some of the Canadian values: steadfast, solid, trustworthy,” and praised the strong cohesion of the Artemis II crew.
Saint-Jacques also highlighted Canada’s decades-long contributions to the space program, from robotic technology to scientific expertise, saying, “Jeremy has filled those big shoes, and he’s literally standing on the top of a pyramid of giants that have made this possible for our country.”
Speaking to young Canadians, Saint-Jacques urged them to dream big, saying space exploration “broadens their perspective and gives them the right to dream.” He highlighted the Artemis program as a source of inspiration and hope, describing it as “a great symbol of what we can do as humans when we put all our efforts together.”
Saint-Jacques noted that programs like Artemis, with their diversity and international collaboration, show the next generation what is possible when people work toward a common goal.
Less than an hour before kicking off the fly-around and lunar observations, the four astronauts surpassed the distance record of 400,171 kilometres set by Apollo 13 in April 1970. They kept going, hurtling ever farther from Earth. Before it was all over, Mission Control expected Artemis II to beat the old record by more than 6,600 km.
During the flyby, the astronauts, in teams of two, took turns looking out the window of their space capsule — named Integrity — while photographing and taking notes of the moon. While one team photographed and took notes, the other two astronauts described to the world through a livestream what could be seen from the spacecraft.
Haltigin said combining written observations with images is key to capturing the full picture. “There’s no substitute for the human eye in terms of distinguishing colours, textures and different features,” he said.
Hansen and commander Reid Wiseman were the first pair to capture images of the moon’s surface — including areas never before seen by human eyes in sunlight. Pilot Victor Glover told the livestream, hosted by NASA in Houston, that Hansen and Wiseman noted that the more they looked at the moon, the browner it appeared.
To improve visibility, the crew dimmed the cabin lights to reduce reflections inside the spacecraft. Later, when Wiseman narrated on the livestream, he said the brightness of the Earth was so intense the crew covered a window of the capsule with a T-shirt to help keep the cabin dark.
The astronauts woke up to the voice of Apollo 13 commander Jim Lovell, who recorded the message just two months before his death last August. “Welcome to my old neighbourhood,” said Lovell, who also flew on Apollo 8, humanity's first lunar visit. “It's a historic day and I know how busy you'll be, but don't forget to enjoy the view.”
They took up with them the Apollo 8 silk patch that accompanied Lovell to the moon, and showed it off as the crucial flyby approached. “It's just a real honour to have that on board with us,” said Wiseman. “Let's go have a great day.”
Artemis II is using the same manoeuvre that Apollo 13 did after its “Houston, we’ve had a problem” oxygen tank explosion wiped out any hope of a moon landing.
Known as a free-return lunar trajectory, this no-stopping-to-land route takes advantage of Earth and the moon’s gravity, reducing the need for fuel. It’s a celestial figure-eight that will put the astronauts on course for home, once they emerge from behind the moon Monday evening.
Hansen, Wiseman, Glover, and Christina Koch were on track to pass as close as 6,550 km to the moon, as their Orion capsule whips past it, hangs a U-turn and then heads back toward Earth. It will take them four days to get back, with a splashdown in the Pacific concluding their test flight on Friday.
Their expected speed at closest approach to the moon: 5,052 kilometres per hour.
Wiseman and his crew spent years studying lunar geography to prepare for the big event, adding solar eclipses to their repertoire during the past few weeks. By launching last Wednesday, they ensured themselves of a total solar eclipse from their vantage point behind the moon, courtesy of the cosmos.
Topping their science target list: Orientale Basin, a sprawling impact basin with three concentric rings, the outermost of which stretches nearly 950 km across.
Other sightseeing goals: the Apollo 12 and 14 landing sites from 1969 and 1971, respectively, as well as fringes of the south polar region, the preferred locale for future touchdowns. Farther afield, Mercury, Venus, Mars and Saturn — not to mention Earth — will be visible.
Their moon mentor, NASA geologist Kelsey Young, expects thousands of pictures.
“People all over the world connect with the moon. This is something that every single person on this planet can understand and connect with,” she said on the eve of the flyby, wearing eclipse earrings.
Artemis II is NASA’s first astronaut moon mission since Apollo 17 in 1972. It sets the stage for next year’s Artemis III, which will see another Orion crew practice docking with lunar landers in orbit around Earth. The culminating moon landing by two astronauts near the moon’s south pole will follow on Artemis IV in 2028.
While Artemis II may be taking Apollo 13’s path, it’s most reminiscent of Apollo 8 and humanity’s first lunar visitors who orbited the moon on Christmas Eve 1968 and read from the Book of Genesis.
Glover said flying to the moon during Christianity’s Holy Week brought home for him “the beauty of creation.” Earth is an oasis amid “a whole bunch of nothing, this thing we call the universe” where humanity exists as one, he observed over the weekend.
“This is an opportunity for us to remember where we are, who we are, and that we are the same thing and that we’ve got to get through this together,” Glover said, clasping hands with his crewmates.
Picture Courtesy: THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP — Handout, Canadian Space Agency
