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The real world Artemis II launch is scheduled for Feb. 8, the first crewed mission to the moon in more than 50 years.
Published Jan 31, 2026 • Last updated 2 hours ago • 2 minute read
Nick Proach with his model of the Orion spacecraft as part of of the Artemis II project – slated to slingshot the moon this year. See the mission’s trajectory in the background. Photo by BrownArticle content
It’s all systems go for Nick Proach at the SpaceModel Museum in Dawson Creek. Proach has put final touches on a new immersive exhibit dedicated to the latest exploration of space – slated for next week.
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Scale models of both the Artemis II rocket and Orion spacecraft sit in Proach’s downtown DC museum. The exhibit offers up close looks of the ships and craft that will carry Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen and three US crewmates around the moon and back again.
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The real world launch is scheduled for Feb. 8, and expects to be the first crewed mission to the moon in more than 50 years. Joining Canadian Hansen will be veteran astronaut Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, and mission specialist Christina Koch.
“Apollo 13’s flight is the longest manned flight, and it appears Artemis II will break this record,” says Proach.
Designed by Proach, world class detailed models show the 322 foot tall SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft capsule, which when combined make the most powerful launch vehicle and advanced deep spacecraft ever built.
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Proach checks out the Orion spacecraft on display in his SpaceModel Museum Photo by Brown
The Artemis II mission is a 10 day flight and will slingshot the crew more than 10,000 km beyond the far side of the moon. Canadian Hansen will be the first from his country to travel beyond low Earth orbit in space.
Proach adds the SpaceModel museum will serve as a community hub for official NASA updates and reports during the Artemis II mission.
“With a Canadian on board this historic flight, we want to give the community a way to truly visualize the scale and importance of the mission.”
Since 1994 Proach Models has built on the history and evolution of 20th and 21st century spacecraft that has created the infinite possibilities for space exploration today and in the future. Proach built his first model at the age of 11 and was making space models at the time of the Apollo 11 lunar landing in 1969.
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In 1971 Proach built a small model of the Lunar Rover prior to the flight of Apollo 15 to the moon in late July of that year. He told the Canadian CTV network about it, and soon was building the entire Apollo 15 landing site for the network’s use during their coverage of the moon mission.
Proach has had a pair of his own pieces join the final frontier, travelling to space to the International Space Station – once on board a 2002 space shuttle, and another on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft in 2008.
The SpaceModel Museum is located in downtown Dawson Creek at Aspol Motors location – 1125 102 Ave. The Museum is open each Tuesday through Thursday and houses a precise collection of world class engineered space models and memorabilia, charting the history of spaceflight from early Mercury missions to Artemis and SpaceX flights of today.
Proach traces the launch path, early circle of the earth before the Artemis II mission heads around the moon and back again. Photo by Brown
Proach says there are changes afoot within the museum – including a mid-summer expansion that will see a doubling of exhibit size and floor space with relocation of the workshop portion of the museum.
He says the space program’s return to the moon, and then a landing on it, sows seeds for other missions – Mars.
The Space Museum is located at 1125 102 Ave Dawson Creek.
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