Jeremy Hansen is leaving the Canadian Space Agency, however Canada will nonetheless help NASA’s return to the moon

On July 6, 2026, only a few days after serving to Canada celebrate its national day, Canadian astronaut and icon Jeremy Hansen announced his retirement from the Canadian Space Agency.

As the primary Canadian to journey to the moon, Hansen has remodeled Canada’s function in human house flight. While his retirement is a loss, Canada will nonetheless be enjoying an necessary function within the return of people to the lunar floor.

Canadian astronaut Jenni Gibbons has been named lead CAPCOM (capsule communicator) for NASA’s upcoming Artemis III mission. I’m honoured to be a part of the Artemis Lunar Surface Science Team. And Canada can be contributing a robotic Lunar Utility Vehicle to the Artemis program.

Hansen’s lunar legacy

It’s laborious to imagine, however it’s three months because the Artemis II mission ended following a profitable splashdown within the Pacific Ocean.

This was the primary crewed mission to the moon since Apollo 17 in 1972 and the primary crewed flight check of the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft in deep house. The crew comprised NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, along with Canada’s Hansen.

I’ve had the pleasure of figuring out Hansen for 15 years and offering him training in geology in among the most distant and spectacular components of the Canadian North.

Read extra:
How the Artemis II crew skilled to watch and {photograph} the moon: A NASA science staff geologist explains

Hansen served as a mission specialist. This was his first house flight and the end result of a few years of laborious work and dedication. From rising up on a farm simply outdoors London, Ont., to turning into an astronaut in 2011, Hansen’s path to the moon was a long one.

Artemis II captured the eye of the world as solely astronaut flights can. From the lunar flyby and our technology’s personal “Earthset” second to the tears shed because the crew devoted a moon crater to Wiseman’s late spouse, this mission captured one of the best of humanity. It confirmed what can occur when nations work collectively for a standard trigger.

Hansen can retire figuring out he’s helped pave the best way for a brand new technology of explorers to move again to the lunar floor and finally on to Mars. On a lighter notice, the crew additionally set a brand new Guinness World Record for the farthest distance humans have ever travelled from Earth.

During their lunar flyby, the 4 astronauts reached a distance of 406,773 kilometres from Earth, surpassing the earlier mark set by Apollo 13 in 1970. They additionally racked up an astonishing 1.1 million kilometres in 10 days.

The significance for Canada

For Canada, Artemis II represented some of the necessary milestones within the nation’s house program. Hansen grew to become the primary Canadian to journey to the moon and the primary non-American astronaut to take part in a lunar mission.

This partnership with NASA was additionally an affidavit to Canada’s long-term strategy of contributing specialized technology and expertise to worldwide house exploration.

As Hansen wrote in his retirement post on X:

“Our future depends on a fierce continuation of Canadian innovation and exploration in space. The technological breakthroughs and economic benefits born from this sector are vital for our country and the world.”

Hansen’s flight remodeled Canada’s function in human house flight from primarily low-Earth-orbit participation to direct involvement in human exploration past Earth’s orbit. Artemis II is a visual demonstration that Canadian researchers, corporations, applied sciences and astronauts can take part straight within the subsequent period of lunar and planetary exploration.

Gibbons confirmed for Artemis mission

NASA made some main adjustments to the Artemis program in February. The subsequent mission, Artemis III, was redesignated from first human lunar touchdown right into a crewed test flight in low-Earth orbit to check rendezvous and docking capabilities with industrial landers. The precise return to the lunar floor has been pushed to the Artemis IV mission.

Later, on June 9, 2026, NASA formally named the four crew members who will fly this low-Earth orbit check mission.

While no Canadian astronauts are confirmed for upcoming Artemis missions, Canada will nonetheless play a job. Gibbons — backup for Hansen on Artemis II — has been named lead CAPCOM (capsule communicator) for Artemis III.

This is without doubt one of the most necessary roles in mission management and is a testomony to the belief that NASA places in Canadian astronauts.

My function within the science staff

I’m additionally honoured to be a part of the Artemis Lunar Surface Science Team. When we have been initially chosen, we have been referred to as the Artemis III Geology Team. But with NASA’s latest shakeup of the Artemis program, we are going to now be the science staff for not simply Artemis IV, but additionally Artemis V — the primary two missions again to the moon since 1972.

Although these missions are two years away, our science staff is consistently busy. With nine candidate landing sites masking hundreds of sq. kilometres on the lunar floor, one among our greatest ongoing tasks is deciding on the geology that may be completed and the websites that can be most fascinating scientifically.

We are additionally busy coaching to help the astronauts on these historic missions by simulated virtual reality missions.

Joshua Kutryk to International Space Station

Beyond these confirmed Artemis missions, Canada’s moon plans are in a state of flux. With the cancellation of NASA’s Lunar Gateway space station and Canada’s first-ever rover mission to the moon, there are numerous uncertainties. So much is using on the Lunar Utility Vehicle, Canada’s main robotic contribution to the Artemis program.

However, Canada is not going to have to attend lengthy for the following Canadian to fly in house. After a protracted hiatus between David Saint-Jacques’ flight in 2019 and Hansen’s flight earlier this yr, it’s solely a matter of months earlier than Gibbon’s classmate, Joshua Kutryk, will launch to the International Space Station on Crew 13.

This can be one other Canadian first to look ahead to: Kutryk would be the first Canadian Space Agency astronaut to launch on a Space X Falcon 9 as a part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program.

So, as we are saying farewell to Hansen, we gained’t have lengthy to attend till one other Canadian heads to house.