Artemis II Rocket Rolls to Launch Pad for April Moon Mission | Jeremy Hansen

The Artemis II rocket, poised to carry Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen on a lunar flyby, arrived at its launch pad at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Friday, completing an 11-hour, four-mile journey from the Vehicle Assembly Building, NASA confirmed.

The move precedes a planned launch on April 1, though the mission has faced several delays since February due to technical challenges, including hydrogen fuel leaks and issues with helium flow. Artemis II represents the first crewed mission to the Moon since the final Apollo mission in 1972.

Hansen, a Colonel in the Royal Canadian Air Force and originally from London, Ontario, will serve as a mission specialist, marking a historic moment as the first non-American to venture beyond low Earth orbit. According to NASA, he will be the oldest astronaut on the mission, at 50 years of age.

The four astronauts assigned to Artemis II – Hansen and three American crewmates – began a quarantine period this week at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, preparing for the ten-day mission. The flight path will take the crew around the Moon before returning to Earth.

NASA officials stated that the Artemis program’s long-term goal is to establish a sustained presence on the Moon, paving the way for future crewed missions to Mars. The agency anticipates a two-person lunar landing in 2028.

Jeremy Hansen joined the Canadian Space Agency in 2009, alongside David Saint-Jacques. Prior to becoming an astronaut, Hansen was a fighter pilot, piloting the CF-18 fighter jet at CFB Cold Lake, Alberta. He holds a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Science degree from the Royal Military College.