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What does an astronaut do for an encore? Jeremy Hansen is about to find out.<\/p>\n
The Canadian Space Agency announced Monday<\/a> that Hansen “will pursue new professional opportunities” this fall.<\/p>\n What he’ll do next, Hansen has not elaborated on just yet \u2014 though he’ll continue to serve as a reservist with the Royal Canadian Air Force.<\/p>\n But his predecessors have shown there are many ways for Canadian astronauts to chart a bold new path, and there is life after space.<\/p>\n WATCH | Hansen hangs up his spacesuit: Astronaut Jeremy Hansen retiring from Canadian Space Agency<\/p>\n Astronaut Jeremy Hansen travelled around the moon aboard the Artemis II mission only a few months ago, in April. The Canadian Space Agency announced Monday that Hansen is retiring from the agency and pursuing other opportunities.<\/p>\n Here’s a look at what some of the country’s high-flying astronauts did after hanging up their spacesuits.<\/p>\n Marc Garneau<\/p>\n Marc Garneau was one of the country’s first six astronauts<\/a>, and the first to make it to space.<\/p>\n He travelled to space on three occasions (1984, 1996 and 2000) and later became the president of the Canadian Space Agency.<\/p>\n After that came politics: Garneau was elected as a Liberal MP in 2008, and he went on to serve as the country’s transport minister<\/a> and foreign affairs minister<\/a>.<\/p>\n He resigned from the House of Commons in 2023<\/a> and died last year, at the age of 76<\/a>.<\/p>\n Roberta Bondar<\/p>\n Roberta Bondar was a member of the same inaugural group of Canadian astronauts as Garneau.<\/p>\n Bondar, who earned four degrees before becoming an astronaut, was also Canada’s first female astronaut \u2014 and, as her Canadian Space Agency biography<\/a> notes, also “the world’s first neurologist in space.”<\/p>\n Her voyage to space came aboard the space shuttle Discovery in 1992. She left the agency later that year<\/a>.<\/p>\n Her post-astronaut life has included many pursuits, including public speaking, research and photography.<\/p>\n Chris Hadfield<\/p>\n Chris Hadfield made three space flights of his own during a 21-year career as an astronaut. <\/p>\n He was also the first Canadian to perform a spacewalk.<\/p>\n He retired from the Canadian Space Agency in 2013<\/a> and has since released an album<\/a>, done work in television<\/a> and written five books \u2014 including two thrillers<\/a> and a children’s book.<\/p>\n Julie Payette<\/p>\n Julie Payette was selected as an astronaut in 1992, the same year as Hadfield.<\/p>\n Payette went to space twice<\/a> \u2014 first in 1999, and again in 2009. <\/p>\n In July 2017, news broke that Payette would become<\/a> the country’s 29th governor general. She was sworn in<\/a> that fall. <\/p>\n Payette later resigned as governor general<\/a> in January 2021, amid a scandal over the workplace culture at Rideau Hall.<\/p>\n Bjarni Tryggvason<\/p>\n Like Garneau and Bondar, Bjarni Tryggvason was one of the original six Canadians selected as astronauts.<\/p>\n His sole trip to space was in 1997, when he served as a payload specialist aboard the space shuttle Discovery.<\/p>\n Tryggvason retired from the Canadian Space Agency in 2008. <\/p>\n The following year, he was part of an effort to fly a replica<\/a> of the Silver Dart biplane, to commemorate the 100-year anniversary of its historic flight<\/a>. Unfortunately, the weather didn’t co-operate<\/a> on the anniversary itself.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1783425072_347_default.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Marc](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1783425073_542_default.jpg\")
Marc Garneau waves to photographers as he and his fellow crew members leave for the Kennedy Space Center launch pad in November 2000. (Chris O’Meara\/The Associated Press)<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1783425073_512_default.jpg\")
Roberta Bondar poses for a portrait in Toronto last December. (Chris Young\/The Canadian Press)<\/p>\n![\"Canadian](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1783425074_187_default.jpg\")
Chris Hadfield speaks on a cellphone after landing back on Earth in May 2013. (Mikhail Metzel\/The Canadian Press)<\/p>\n![\"Julie](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1783425075_170_default.jpg\")
Julie Payette is seen at work while aboard the Discovery in May 1999. (NASA\/AFP\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n![\"Bjarni](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1783425075_810_default.jpg\")
Bjarni Tryggvason poses with a replica of the Silver Dart in Hamilton in February 2009. (Colin Perkel\/The Canadian Press)<\/p>\n