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Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen and his Artemis II crewmates received a hero’s welcome Thursday at Canadian Space Agency headquarters in Longueuil, Que., marking the crew’s first official visit to the agency since completing their historic journey around the moon last month.
The crew, including Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, joined Industry Minister Mélanie Joly and Canadian astronaut Jenni Gibbons for a fireside chat reflecting on the mission and its impact on future generations of scientists and engineers.
“The Artemis II crew brought Canadians and people around the world along on their journey around the Moon, inspiring young people to pursue career paths that will shape scientists, engineers, and the workforce of tomorrow,” Joly said in a statement released Thursday by the Space Agency.
Artemis II, which ran from April 1 to 10, was the first crewed test flight of NASA’s Artemis program and carried humans farther from Earth than ever before.
During the mission, the crew travelled more than one million kilometres and reached a distance of 406,773 km from Earth, surpassing the previous human spaceflight record set by Apollo 13.
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Hansen said that before the crew launched into space, the science team realized that the astronauts, during their lunar flyby, would be the only humans capable of observing a solar eclipse because of their unique position.
The work of the team on the ground, he said, gave he and his three crewmates “this opportunity to capture science that we didn’t even think about ahead of time.”
Hansen said in a statement earlier that the mission gave him a renewed appreciation for collaboration and human connection.
“It feels incredible to be home. Canadians across the nation have expressed how proud they are of our role in this historic mission,” he said.
“Representing our country has been an honour, and I’m deeply grateful for the opportunity to share this experience with Canadians.”
Wiseman said he was surprised by the emotional impact of watching Earth shrink in the distance while the moon grew larger outside the spacecraft.
“The human element really caught me off guard. It was much more than I ever expected,” he said.
The astronauts were greeted Thursday by cheering staff and guests at the agency’s headquarters on Montreal’s South Shore, where Hansen highlighted Canada’s growing role in deep-space exploration.
“Our team flew around the moon, and Canada was the second country in the world to send a human into deep space,” Hansen told the crowd. “We did that.”
The crew also met with local Air Cadets and children during the visit, answering questions about the mission and encouraging young Canadians to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
Gibbons, who became the first Canadian certified as an Artemis capcom, the key communication link between astronauts and mission control, said supporting Hansen during the mission was a proud moment for Canada.
The Artemis II crew visited Ottawa on Wednesday, where they met with Prime Minister Mark Carney on Parliament Hill.
They are expected to speak to Montreal’s business community on Friday.
– With files from The Canadian Press
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