“We are here to inspire Canadians”

The four Artemis II astronauts were in Ottawa on Tuesday.

They will respectively be the first African-American, the first woman and the first Canadian to travel to the Moon, in 2024 or 2025. Earlier this week, the crew of the Artemis II mission made a brief tour of Canada . The Press met the astronauts at the US Embassy in Ottawa.

“We’re here to inspire Canadians, to connect,” says Ontarian Jeremy Hansen, who is the only Artemis II astronaut to never have been in space. Victor Glover paid tribute to John Chapman, founder of the Canadian space program.

How important is it to have a crew with so many firsts? “My participation in Artemis II goes beyond my person, answers Christina Koch. We are here for all humanity. You have to make the most of everyone’s skills. Victor Glover replied that the diversity of his team stemmed from the “efforts of people who, a long time ago, chose astronauts like us. It was not easy to make this change”. And Jeremy Hansen added that the crew of Artemis II demonstrated American leadership, capable of drawing the best from the “genius” of Canada.

The four astronauts come alive when we talk about the first orbital test of Starship, last week. The SpaceX rocket, which exploded after four minutes of flight, well before reaching orbit, will be used for the Artemis III moon landing, scheduled for 2025. The capsule Orion bringing astronauts to the Moon will be docked to Starship in lunar orbit. For other Artemis missions, Orion And Starship will dock with the lunar orbital station Gateway for the transfer.

“The test was a huge success, almost a miracle,” said Hansen. It’s a perfect example of an iterational approach,” with frequent test flights – and explosions.

Commander Reid Wiseman made the comparison with the SLS rocket developed by NASA, which brings the capsule Orion to the Moon and first flew with the unmanned Artemis I mission last November. “It took years to perfect the technology before the first flight” of SLS.

Didn’t last week’s test cause serious damage to SpaceX’s launch pad in Texas? “They knew there would be, but not that many,” says Glover, who says SpaceX is working on a new launch pad at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, which will be used by Starshipand also adapts an existing Cape Canaveral launch pad.

When The Press broached the subject of the usefulness of a tie-down Gatewaya publicist intervened to ask to stop asking questions relating to SpaceX.

Generation Artemis

All four astronauts were children when space shuttle missions began. Their selection confirms that the “Apollo generation”, which became astronauts because of the example of the lunar program half a century ago, has given way to the “space shuttle generation”. NASA officials also hope that the Artemis program will inspire an “Artemis generation”. Will the “space shuttle generation” have a different approach from the “Apollo generation”?

“I don’t think so,” said Mr. Glover. The Moon is unique. Moreover, we call moonshots bold projects. We’ve all seen videos of Apollo. »

Why they became astronauts

Jeremy Hansen, 47, fighter pilot

“When I was 5, my parents added the Kennedy Space Center to a trip to Florida because I had been talking about Neil Armstrong all the time ever since I saw a picture of him on the moon. I have a photo of my face in a cardboard cutout of an astronaut. Afterwards, I had the inspiration and people helped me to realize my dream. »

Christina Koch, 44, electrical engineer

“I did space camp when I was in high school. I decided that I would not check the boxes of the training that was offered to us to become an astronaut. I don’t have a traditional astronaut background. »

Victor Glover, 46, US Navy pilot

“When I was younger, I followed space shuttle missions, but I rather dreamed of being a stuntman, firefighter or policeman like my father. The desire has matured. »

Reid Wiseman, 47, test pilot

“When I was chosen for Artemis II, one of my best friends when I was 7 years old contacted me to congratulate me on achieving my goals then. But I don’t remember at all wanting to be an astronaut so young. I remember thinking about it after the shuttle exploded Challenger in 1986.”