In this video from the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) astronaut Jeremy Hansen answers 10 of the questions he gets asked most often about the Artemis 2 mission.

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Transcript

Jeremy Hansen: Okay, ten facts about the Artemis 2 mission.

Question: How long will the mission last, and how many kilometres will you travel?

Jeremy Hansen: So it’ll last about ten days, and we’ll travel over a million kilometres.

Question: How many astronauts will be on board?

Jeremy Hansen: Well, one Canadian and three Americans: Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch.

Question: Where will you launch from and land?

Jeremy Hansen: Well, we’ll launch from Florida. And we’ll splash down in the Pacific near the coast of San Diego.

Question: What vehicle will bring you to the Moon?

Jeremy Hansen: The SLS rocket will launch the Orion spacecraft and put us in an orbit to fly around the Moon.

Question: How big is Orion?

Jeremy Hansen: Crew module is about the size of a camper van, so pretty cozy.

Question: Will you conduct any science experiments during the mission?

Jeremy Hansen: Of course. We’ll be both scientists as well as subjects for health-related experiments. There’ll also be four international CubeSats that are launched, and we’ll make scientific observations of the Moon.

Question: What are you most excited about?

Jeremy Hansen: Definitely seeing the Earth from the perspective of the Moon.

Question: Name one special thing about the mission.

Jeremy Hansen: We could get to see parts of the far side of the Moon that have never been seen by human eyes before. And when we get close to the Moon, it will appear to be about the size of a basketball held out at arm’s length.

Question: Are you bringing any personal items that are especially important to you?

Jeremy Hansen: Well, very few because we’re limited on space, but I will be carrying four pendants that are in the shape of the Moon. They say “Moon and back” on them, and they have the birthstones of our family. One for my wife and my three kids. And I’ll also be flying the Canadian mission patch, that was gifted to us by an Anishinaabe artist, and it just does a really great job of highlighting some of the beauty that is contained in traditional Indigenous knowledge.

Question: Name one thing that you hope to accomplish with this mission aside from the mission objectives.

Jeremy Hansen: I hope that this mission makes Canadians proud. And that it is a reminder and reflection of what we can do when we set big goals and we work together to achieve them.

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