5 things to know about Canadian Jeremy Hansen’s trip to the moon tomorrow

He’ll answer questions from Canadians from space

The Canadian Space Agency accepted questions in French and English until January 23 and will pick a few submissions at random to present to Hansen while he is in orbit.

Bélanger said the agency would select questions from a diverse array of Canadians “from coast to coast to coast.”

Delays are possible

It’s not uncommon for space missions to be delayed. The Artemis II launch had been planned for September 2025 but was pushed to early 2026.

In late November 2022, NASA launched Artemis I — a NASA Orion spacecraft that did not contain a crew and orbited the moon before returning to Earth. That 25-day mission was also delayed.

“Any space launch is complex. It requires a lot of technical things to go absolutely perfectly (and) weather is another component and so up to the last minute, we are used to seeing launches that could be postponed or just cancelled for another date,” Bélanger said.

NASA attempted to launch the four astronauts in February, but the launch was delayed by hydrogen fuel leaks and helium flow problems. Managers said the rocket is doing well after the latest round of repairs.

NASA has a six-day window to launch Artemis II. Forecasters have said the weather should co-operate.

Watch parties are planned across the country

“One of our goals is really to make sure that people and Canadians take can take part in that mission,” Bélanger said, adding the CSA will provide mission updates on the agency’s various social media channels.

Some watch parties are already planned at science museums across the country — the locations can be found on the CSA website. The agency also has created a watch party “tool kit” for people planning to witness the historic launch at home with family and friends.

Since most of the potential launch windows are late in the evening, students likely won’t be watching it live in their classrooms. But Bélanger said milestone events will be streamed live and available after. The agency also has some science-related activities and projects for teachers.

“We’ve seen the excitement of students all across Canada and Jeremy has been doing virtual connections with many schools, thousands of students,” Bélanger said. “It’s something that is very important to him (and) very important to us as well to make sure that students know what’s happening.”

What’s next for the mission

Following the roughly 10-day mission, the craft is expected to splash down in the Pacific Ocean.

Canadian astronaut Jenni Gibbons, 37, of Calgary, is serving as Hansen’s backup and will be supporting the crew from ground control.

More than 50 years after Apollo, an inspirational mission

“A lot of our Canadian astronauts were inspired by the Apollo missions, so it’s a way (to inspire younger generations),” Bélanger said, adding that space travel can motivate young people to study science, technology, engineering and math.

Artemis II will set the stage for subsequent missions to land astronauts on the moon’s south pole and to begin assembling the Gateway lunar space station, a small lunar outpost that will orbit the moon. The station will include a Canadian contribution — Canadarm 3 — described by the CSA as a robotic system using “cutting-edge software to perform some tasks around the Moon autonomously, without human intervention.”