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MIKAELA MACKENZIE \/ FREE PRESS<\/p>\n
Adam Gear and his four-year-old son, Oliver, are both excited to watch NASA\u2019s launch of the Artemis II on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
The Artemis II flight will allow NASA to test the spacecraft\u2019s life-support and other critical systems, while also conducting research along the way. It is one phase of a larger mission, with the ultimate goal of seeing astronauts land on the lunar surface in 2028 and eventually establish humankind\u2019s first lunar base.<\/p>\n
The team includes mission specialist Hansen from the Canadian Space Agency, who becomes the first person from this country to venture beyond low orbit and into deep space.<\/p>\n
The crew also includes Americans Christina Koch and Victor Glover, the first woman and first Black astronaut, respectively, destined for the moon.<\/p>\n
American Reid Wiseman is leading the mission.<\/p>\n
\n\t\tWinnipeg Free Press | Newsletter\n\t<\/p>\n
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Gear, 34, hoped witnessing the launch might leave an impression on his son, Oliver, who has developed a budding interest in astronomy alongside his dad. The mission is being streamed live online by NASA, allowing for the father-son duo to watch every moment.<\/p>\n
Gear, who works as a life-flight paramedic, moved to Winnipeg from northern Ontario in 2021 so his wife could complete a medical residency as a pediatrician.<\/p>\n
He has long been interested in space but began practising astronomy in earnest about a year ago, later joining the local branch of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada.<\/p>\n
What began as stargazing through a set of binoculars grew into a passion for lunar photography, telescopes and celestial navigation, he said.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t MIKAELA MACKENZIE \/ FREE PRESS<\/p>\n Adam Gear, 34, hopes witnessing the launch might leave an impression on his son, Oliver, who has developed a budding interest in astronomy alongside his dad.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s eerie and it\u2019s mysterious, but it\u2019s really cool and intriguing,\u201d Gear said, referring to space.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s peaceful, in a way, and it makes you think about things and ponder. It focuses you and grounds you, and all kinds of things I didn\u2019t really expect\u2026. There are many things now that I appreciate, that I didn\u2019t before.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThey are humans travelling on behalf of Earth, and that\u2019s a perspective that I think is a really valuable one to be inspired by.\u201d<\/p>\n Scott Young, a planetarium astronomer with the Manitoba Museum, said he hoped the launch would inspire kids like Oliver to study science, engineering and aviation \u2014 building the next generation of aspiring astronauts.<\/p>\n He described the mission as another step toward creating a true, \u201cspace-faring civilization\u201d that is not divided by politics and borders, but unified by shared humanity and a commitment to interstellar exploration.<\/p>\n \u201cSpace is one of the few places where international collaboration seems to still be working very well,\u201d Young said. \u201cThey are humans travelling on behalf of Earth, and that\u2019s a perspective that I think is a really valuable one to be inspired by.\u201d<\/p>\n Young referenced the Apollo 11 mission of 1969, which saw American astronaut Neil Armstrong become the first person to set foot on the moon.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a huge impact on people emotionally, and I\u2019m hoping that we will see the same thing out of this mission,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t MIKAELA MACKENZIE \/ FREE PRESS<\/p>\n NASA\u2019s Artemis II mission is being streamed live online allowing Adam and Oliver to watch every moment.<\/p>\n Philip Ferguson, an associate professor at the University of Manitoba and president of the Canadian Aeronautics and Space Institute, said people interested in astronomy have a wealth of opportunities to study in Manitoba.<\/p>\n Ferguson directs the Space Technology and Advanced Research laboratory at the university, where students are currently working to build Canada\u2019s first-ever lunar <\/a>satellite<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat I really hope comes out of this mission is inspiration,\u201d he said. \u201cThese are the kinds of things that can set someone\u2019s career on a completely different path, and Canada \u2014 and the rest of the world \u2014 needs people working in (science, technology, engineering and mathematics).\u201d<\/p>\n \u2014With files from the Associated Press<\/p>\n tyler.searle@freepress.mb.ca<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t Tyler Searle Tyler Searle is a multimedia producer who writes for the Free Press\u2019s city desk. A graduate of Red River College Polytechnic\u2019s creative communications program, he wrote for the Stonewall Teulon Tribune, Selkirk Record and Express Weekly News before joining the paper in 2022.\u00a0Read more about Tyler<\/a>.<\/p>\n Every piece of reporting Tyler produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print \u2014 part of the Free Press\u2018s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press\u2019s history and mandate<\/a>, and learn how our newsroom operates<\/a>.<\/p>\n Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber<\/a>.<\/p>\n Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.<\/p>\n \t\t
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