What to know
- Prime Minister Mark Carney has appointed Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen as a special advisor on space.
- Hansen will advise Carney and Industry Minister Mélanie Joly on space-related matters.
- Hansen became the first Canadian astronaut to travel on a deep-space mission during NASA’s Artemis II mission to the moon.
- Canada’s participation in missions such as Artemis II and Crew-13 could create opportunities to strengthen the country’s sovereignty, security and space capabilities, Hansen said.
- Hansen said he is excited to help Canada make decisions that could improve quality of life on Earth while contributing to global space exploration.
Prime Minister Mark Carney has appointed astronaut Jeremy Hansen to be a special advisor on space.
In a video shared on social media, Hansen welcomed the role, which he said will involve advising Minister of Industry Mélanie Joly and Carney on matters related to space.
“I’m just super excited to serve Canada in that role,” he said.
“This year, we became the second country in the world to send a human into deep space. It just speaks to the extraordinary capacity in this country to provide value on the world stage with respect to harnessing space.”
Canada’s earning a spot in space
Back in April, Hansen became the first ever Canadian astronaut to embark on a deep space mission to the moon. The Artemis II mission was the first crewed mission to the moon since 1972’s Apollo 17, and was the first in a series of NASA missions meant to build “durable lunar presence.”
Since then, he has become a figure of inspiration in Canada, having even marked presence at an opening ceremony at the Canadian National Exhibition (CNE) in Toronto this year.
Read More
The mission also opened a precedent for further Canadian participation in space exploration, with another Canadian astronaut, Joshua Kutryk, boarding on a six-month mission to the International Space Station earlier this month.
Read More
According to Hansen, Canada’s participation in space missions like Artemis II or Crew-13 reflects an opportunity for the country to do more with space exploration, which could lead to improvements in the quality of life on Earth.
“There’s so much opportunity to leverage this position that we’re already in, to do more, to provide for our sovereignty, our security, our quality of life on the planet. And at the same time, make significant contributions on the global stage,” he said.
“I’m really appreciative of the opportunity to dig into that and to continue to learn from the genius across our country and help our senior leadership make those important decisions that will truly take us into a brighter future.”
