Jeremy Hansen is a colonel in the Royal Canadian Air Force, who works as an astronaut with the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). In April 2023, he was selected by NASA for the Artemis II mission along with Victor Glover, Christina Hammock Koch, and Gregory R. Wiseman. The mission is expected to take place in November 2024.
Contents
Wiki/Biography
Jeremy Roger Hansen was born on Tuesday, 27 January 1976 (age 47 years; as of 2023) in London, Ontario. His zodiac sign is Aquarius. He grew up near a farm in on a farm near Ailsa Craig, Middlesex County. Later, he moved from Ailsa Craig, Middlesex County to Ingersoll, Oxford County. In an interview, he revealed that his parents then took him to the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida; he added that he was five years old when he first saw an image of Neil Armstrong standing on the moon in an Encyclopedia and wanted to be an astronaut. He pursued a B.Sc (Honours) degree in Space Science with First Class Honours at the Royal Military College of Canada, Kingston, Ontario between 1994 and 1999. Hansen completed a Master of Science degree in Physics with a research focus on Wide Field of View Satellite Tracking at the Royal Military College of Canada, Kingston, Ontario between 1999 and 2000.
An old photograph of Jeremy Hansen
Physical Appearance
Height (approx.): 5′ 9″
Weight (approx.): 70 kg
Hair Colour:Â Black
Eye Colour:Â Grey
Family
Parents
His father’s name is John Hansen. His mother’s name is Linda Hansen.
Jeremy Hansen with his father
Wife & Children
On 12 April 2003, he got married to Catherine White Hansen. She worked as a physician and Menopause Practitioner for almost 25 years. Later, she started the Empowered Women’s Circle, which provides online learning and community platforms for organizations to support women. He has a son and two daughters. His daughters’ names are Ashley Hansen and Katelyn Hansen. His son’s name is Devon Hansen.
Jeremy Hansen with his family
Jeremy Hansen with his wife
An old photograph of Jeremy Hansen with his wife and children
Ashley Hansen (right), Katelyn Hansen and Devon Hansen
Religion
He follows Christianity.
Career
Military Service
Hansen started his career in aviation with his stint at the 614 Royal Canadian Air Cadet Squadron in London, Ontario; he was 12 years old when he joined the Air Cadet Squadron. Four years later, in 1992, he passed the Air Cadet Gliding Program in Trenton, Ontario and earned his Air Cadet glider pilot wings. In 1993, he earned his private pilot licence and wings in Cornwall, Ontario. In an interview, he revealed that the Air Cadets’ training he underwent as part of the program helped him during his Officer Training period in the Canadian Armed Forces.
Jeremy Hansen (speaker) during his time at the 614 Royal Canadian Air Cadet Squadron
He got selected for the Royal Canadian Air Force at the age of 18 and completed the CF-18 Fighter Pilot Training at the 410 Tactical Fighter Operational Training Squadron in Cold Lake, Alberta in 2003. Later, he completed two tours with the 441 Tactical Fighter Squadron and the 409 Tactical Fighter Squadron as a CF-18 fighter pilot and was promoted to the rank of Captain; he also served as the Combat Operations Officer at 4 Wing in Cold Lake which is under the operational command of 1 Canadian Air Division. He was a captain of the Royal Canadian Air Force when he got selected for the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and later he was promoted to the rank of Colonel.
In honour of #WorldSpaceWeek, for today's #ThrowbackThursday we're taking you back to 2013 when Colonel Jeremy Hansen, #RCAF Fighter Pilot and Canadian Astronaut, was Major Jeremy Hansen.
In this video, he speaks about the challenges and successes he's had throughout his career. pic.twitter.com/ydqKAsl47R
— Royal Canadian Air Force (@RCAF_ARC) October 4, 2018
CSA Career
In March 2008, Jeremy Hansen applied for the 2009 Astronaut Recruitment Campaign of the Canadian Space Agency (CSA); some reports suggested that the CSA received over 5,300 applications and after the initial screening, 79 people were selected for the training process that lasted a year. In May 2009, the training program was officially concluded; the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) announced that Jeremy Hansen and David Saint-Jacques were selected for the Astronauts’ basic training program.
Jeremy Hansen with David Saint-Jacques
The three-phase training program lasted for two years and was based at CSA headquarters in Longueuil, Quebec and NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston; he completed the training program in 2011 and later worked as the capcom (capsule communication) astronaut at the Mission Control Center at Johnson Space Center in Houston.
Jeremy Hansen working as a capcom at NASA
In 2013, he was selected for the Cooperative Adventure for Valuing and Exercising human behaviour and performance Skills (CAVES) training program organized by the European Space Agency (ESA); Jeremy was one of the six astronauts selected for the training program held in Sardinia, Italy. He spent six days training in an underground cave and also flew a Hawk One F-86 Sabre jet. On 8 September 2014, he was named to the training team of the NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO 19) and spent seven days as an aquanaut. The underwater expedition took place at the Aquarius Research Station in Key Largo, Florida; the only undersea laboratory in the world.
A photograph of Jeremy Hansen from the NEEMO 19 training program
In 2017, he was given the charge of training astronaut candidates from the United States and Canada at NASA. On 3 April 2023, he was selected as a mission specialist on the Artemis Two mission, which intends to circle the Moon in 2024; they will orbit for ten days in the Orion spacecraft and will test the key components required for the making of Artemis III which is aimed to take humans back to the moon for the first time since 1972.
NASA has named the Artemis II crew that will head to the moon: Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Reid Wiseman, and Jeremy Hansen of the Canadian Space Agency. They will travel around the moon and back on a 10-day mission within the next two years. https://t.co/o0WmVg1bxp pic.twitter.com/0A851jWiVc
— The New York Times (@nytimes) April 3, 2023
Only 24 people have ever been to the Moon. And they’ve all been American. But that’s about to change – because the @CSA_ASC’s own @Astro_Jeremy is going there with the #Artemis II crew next year. Watch more of my chat with him here: https://t.co/0CvqLJ9wmO pic.twitter.com/BUD64ZGNAw
— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) April 3, 2023
Awards, Honours
- May 1999: Air Cadet League of Canada Award – Top Air Force Graduate from the Royal Military College of Canada
- 2001: Clancy Scheldrup Memorial Trophy – Outstanding Graduate on the Basic Flying Course
- May 2002: Canadian Air Force Pilot Wings
- October 2006: Canadian Forces’ Decoration – 12 Years of Outstanding Service
- 2012: The Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal
- Fellow of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society (FRCGS)
- 2014: Gold Medal of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society
Favourites
- Hollywood Film: Star Wars
Facts/Trivia
- Jeremy Hansen, in his leisure time, loves sailboat cruising and racing, rock climbing, and mountain biking.
- He is the first Canadian to be entrusted with leading a NASA astronaut class; in 2017, he trained NASA astronauts from the United States and Canada.
- Jeremy will be the first Canadian astronaut and also the first non-American astronaut to fly to the Moon.
BREAKING NEWS! CSA astronaut Jeremy Hansen (@Astro_Jeremy) will be the first Canadian to ever fly to the Moon. He’ll take part in #Artemis II, a crewed flight test of the Orion spacecraft.
Learn more: https://t.co/tqJg4QRq5o pic.twitter.com/H2X5xam61J
— Canadian Space Agency (@csa_asc) April 3, 2023
