MONTREAL \u2014 Artemis II is back on Earth \u2014 and Canada had a seat on board \u2014 but its role in future lunar missions will hinge on how quickly it moves to build on current momentum, said a scientist involved in the Artemis program.<\/p>\n
As NASA accelerated its lunar plans in the last few months, Western University geologist Dr. Gordon Osinski said Canada\u2019s contribution will depend on acting quickly.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we want to be a part of Artemis, we need to make contributions and be useful,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
That urgency comes after Canada\u2019s successful participation in the program so far. \u201cThis gives incredible momentum,\u201d said Caroline-Emmanuelle Morisset, senior scientist in lunar and planetary science at the Canadian Space Agency.<\/p>\n
She said the public response in Canada to the mission was striking, calling it \u201creally exciting,\u201d and noting, \u201cWe felt that it carried everyone for 10 days.\u201d<\/p>\n
But Osinski said the key challenge now is turning that excitement into sustained involvement in NASA\u2019s Artemis program.<\/p>\n
\u201cI really hope we capitalize off the excitement and public interest,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019ve got to act quickly, not in 10 to 15 years, which is often the case with space projects.\u201d<\/p>\n
Looking ahead, Canada is developing a lunar rover, currently in early concept studies and being designed in coordination with NASA\u2019s Artemis architecture. The rover would support both logistics and scientific work on the moon, with a potential launch timeline in 2034, said Morisset.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are in a full concept study for a utility rover that would go to the lunar surface,\u201d she said. \u201cWe are also working with NASA to integrate it into the Artemis architecture. We are really planning this contribution to the lunar program.\u201d<\/p>\n
But Osinski said timelines will be critical if Canada wants to maintain its place in the program. \u201cIt\u2019s got to be quicker, otherwise we\u2019ll miss the boat,\u201d he said, adding more need to be done. <\/p>\n
\u201dI don\u2019t think that\u2019s going to get us an astronaut seat to the surface of the moon.\u201d<\/p>\n
Osinski is already deeply involved in Artemis planning and is expected to play a key role in upcoming surface missions, including Artemis IV \u2014 the first crewed landing on the lunar surface in the current program architecture.<\/p>\n
His role on the science team will include helping plan astronaut routes and lunar observations for the mission.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m on the science team for what was, until recently, Artemis III, but it\u2019s basically the first surface mission (in the Artemis program),\u201d Osinski said. \u201cIt\u2019s a big role.\u201d<\/p>\n
Morisset echoed that his involvement is significant for Canada. \u201cIt\u2019s quite exciting,\u201d she said, noting he is the only Canadian on the science team.<\/p>\n
Osinski said his work on the mission has been underway for years. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve actually been working already for over two years now,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ve been playing a role in helping to select and characterize potential landing sites on the moon.\u201d<\/p>\n
That includes early sample strategy work and planning how lunar material will be processed and studied once returned to Earth and released to the international scientific community.<\/p>\n
Beyond mission design, Osinski is also involved in training Artemis astronauts in geology, including classroom work and field exercises at analog sites such as northern Labrador and in Arizona.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re still building the training program,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ll be helping co-ordinate that work.\u201d<\/p>\n
He previously helped train Artemis II astronauts using impact sites in northern Labrador, including the Kamestatin Lake crater, a rare anorthosite-rich structure that closely resembles lunar terrain.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a really unique site, an impact crater, which is the dominant landform on the moon,\u201d Osinski said.<\/p>\n
He said the training helped Artemis II astronauts sharpen how they described what they were seeing during their lunar flyby.<\/p>\n
\u201cSeeing all the astronauts give really excellent observations to mission control felt really good. I was proud,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Morisset mirrored that excitement. <\/p>\n
\u201cI couldn\u2019t believe it,\u201d she said. \u201cFrom a scientific point of view, they could describe it live. I was blown away.\u201d<\/p>\n
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 11, 2026.<\/p>\n
\u2014with files from William Eltherington <\/p>\n
Charlotte Glorieux, The Canadian Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MONTREAL \u2014 Artemis II is back on Earth \u2014 and Canada had a seat on board \u2014 but…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":387360,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[85,46,141,145],"class_list":{"0":"post-387359","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-space","8":"tag-il","9":"tag-israel","10":"tag-science","11":"tag-space"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/387359","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=387359"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/387359\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/387360"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=387359"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=387359"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=387359"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}