Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen and his NASA crewmates are set to hold a news conference Thursday following their historic Artemis II lunar mission. The four-person crew, including commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, and mission specialists Christina Koch and Hansen, successfully completed their 10-day flight last Friday.
This mission marked the first human journey to the moon in over 50 years, setting a record for the greatest distance traveled from Earth. Following their splashdown in the Pacific and initial medical checks, the crew was flown to Houston for debriefings and reconditioning.
The press conference is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. Eastern at the Houston space center. Hansen, from London, Ontario, achieved a significant milestone as the first non-American to travel beyond low Earth orbit and the first to speak French en route to the moon.
The Artemis program aims to establish a permanent human presence on the moon and serves as a precursor for Mars missions. The crew successfully tested life support systems, piloted the Orion spacecraft, and conducted a lunar flyby, achieving all primary mission objectives.