Despite delays, Canadian astronaut keeps training to fly to moon in 2026

Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen is set to fly to the moon in early 2026 on the Artemis II mission, becoming the first non-American to travel beyond low Earth orbit.

Despite delays, Hansen is embracing the rigorous training and preparation.

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He emphasizes that the mission’s success is the result of a vast team effort, not just individual achievement.

“I feel very fortunate flying to space with just some great people that I respect immensely,” he said.

Hansen says that is reflected in the camaraderie between him and the veteran NASA astronauts who will embark together on the mission.

“This opportunity, too, to prepare for this mission, has just brought us closer. We have more time together. We are all human, and you know. We are always very honest about it, like we have had frictions in the crew. But what’s important is that we want to work through them.”

Everyone at CSA headquarters excited

Meanwhile, at the Canadian Space Agency headquarters, Mathieu Caron says the excitement about Hansen’s travel is palpable.

Caron is the Director at the CSA’s Life Sciences and Space Medicine. He says the moon mission is significant.

“This first crucial Mission to the moon since the Apollo program and having Canada on board, it’s so exciting.”

“The astronauts are excited—everyone here at the CSA and at NASA shares in that excitement. We’re getting very close. We can see that the equipment is being readied for launch in early 2026.”

That equipment includes necessities such as food.

Nathalie Hirsch, a project manager in Operational Space Medicine at the CSA, says the Orion capsule of Artemis II is significantly smaller than the ISS.

Maple cookies packed on spacecraft

Hirsch says as the capsule only measures nine cubic meters, which she compares to the size of a camper van, there is almost no space on board.

Finding foods that meet mass constraints and nutritional requirements is crucial.

“For example, NASA made the decision not to fly any canned food because it’s just too heavy,” she explained.

“They’re flying a lot of rehydrated foods, and there are some what they call thermostability foods. It’s like cans, but in a can, it’s in a metallic pouch.”

While considering all that, Hirsch and her colleagues at the CSA and NASA have agreed to pack five Canadian foods on board the spacecraft: maple syrup, maple cookies, smoked salmon bites, shrimp curry with rice, and super-seed chia-based cereal.

The Artemis II is a planned 10-day mission to orbit the Moon, which means it will not land on it.

With four astronauts on board, the Orion spacecraft is expected to launch by April 2026.