Oliver Stuart watched in awe Sunday as Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen explained what it takes to get to the moon.
Dressed in a faux space suit, the seven-year-old Winnipeg boy was one of dozens of people gathered inside the Royal Aviation Museum of Western Canada to hear Hansen speak about his upcoming celestial journey.
It was a moment Oliver, an aspiring astronaut, won’t soon forget.
JOHN WOODS / FREE PRESS
Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen speaks and meets people at Aviation Museum of Western Canada Sunday.
“That meant a lot to me,” he said after Hansen’s speech, pausing to adjust the chrome gloves on his hands.
“I’ve always wanted to jump on the moon … (but) I’m kind of nervous to go up to space.”
Hansen, 48, is slated to become the first Canadian astronaut to ever venture to the moon during the Artemis II mission scheduled to launch next September.
He took time away from training this week to visit Manitoba, where he stopped in Sagkeeng First Nation, met with business leaders and spoke to students in a series of public engagements — culminating in his weekend appearance at the aviation museum.
Over the span of roughly 50 minutes Hansen answered questions and detailed a step-by-step breakdown of his mission, which will see a crew of four astronauts launch a vessel into deepspace, fly it around the moon and return over the course of nine days.
It will mark the first flight beyond low-Earth orbit since Apollo 17 in 1972.
“It’s a very bold endeavour,” said Hansen, who dared the crowd to be brave and seek to overcome challenges in their own lives.
“If you see anything up here in front of you, I hope you see a mirror of you, of Canada, of what we are capable of … We know how to collaborate, and when we lean into each other’s value, we can accomplish some extraordinary things.”
Oliver’s parents, Thomas and Kate Stuart, said they attended the event to foster their child’s life-long interest in space travel.
The message instilled by Hansen did exactly that, Thomas said.
“Role modelling is a big thing for kids, especially around this age and older, they are going to start looking for role models and attaching some of their identity to what they are seeing,” he said.
Speaking to reporters, Hansen said inspiring a future generation of cosmonauts is part of his responsibility.
“I recognize I was very privileged in that I was encouraged to follow my dreams, and not everybody has that same platform,” he said. “I hope to just give that to more Canadians. For them to recognize that they are capable of achieving their goals.”
International student Jiya Malek said she was moved by Hansen’s message. She and two friends were waiting near a staff-only section of the aviation museum, hoping to snag him for a photograph after he finished speaking to media.
JOHN WOODS / FREE PRESS
Oliver Stuart came out to listen to Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen.
Malek — who moved to Winnipeg from Gujarat, India — is in her third semester at the University of Manitoba, where she studies aerospace engineering.
“It really brings a lot of hope because being a student, I was like, ‘What if I find no opportunities after I graduate?’” she said.
Her friend Sukhraj Kaur, who holds a bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering, said she is now considering pursuing a master’s degree.
“It was too great,” she said of Hansen’s speech. “That was too motivating for me.”
Hansen, a father of three, began his career as a fighter pilot in the Royal Canadian Air Force. He completed his initial flight training near Portage la Prairie and later rose to the rank of colonel. The Canadian Space Agency selected him to be an astronaut in 2009, and he is one of only four active astronauts in the country.
The Artemis II mission will be his first time in space.
“It’s just going to be an exhilarating ride,” he said.
“I know full well there is lots of risk involved, but it’s a very managed risk and I’m very optimistic. I don’t worry about it. We defeat the worry by the planning and preparation.”
Hansen will soon head to Montreal, where he is scheduled to speak to around 100 elementary school students on Tuesday.
tyler.searle@freepress.mb.ca
Tyler Searle
Reporter
Tyler Searle is a multimedia producer who writes for the Free Press‘s city desk. A graduate of Red River College Polytechnic’s creative communications program, he wrote for the Stonewall Teulon Tribune, Selkirk Record and Express Weekly News before joining the paper in 2022. Read more about Tyler.
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