Jeremy Roger Hansen (born January 27, 1976) is a Canadian astronaut, fighter pilot, physicist and former aquanaut. He was selected to join the Canadian Space Agency in the 2009 CSA selection along with David Saint-Jacques. Prior to his selection as one of Canada's astronauts, Hansen was a Royal Canadian Air Force captain, piloting the CF-18 fighter jet at CFB Cold Lake, Alberta. He has since been promoted to the rank of colonel. Hansen was selected as a mission specialist on the Artemis II flight, which intends to circle the Moon in 2025. If successful, he will be the first non-American astronaut to travel beyond low Earth orbit.

Early life and education

Hansen was born on January 27, 1976, in London, Ontario, and raised on a farm near Ailsa Craig, until moving to Ingersoll for his high school education. After graduating from Ingersoll District Collegiate Institute in Ingersoll, Ontario, Hansen attended the Royal Military College in Kingston, Ontario, where he completed a Bachelor of Science (Honours) degree in space science in 1999 with First Class Honours. Hansen later completed a Master of Science degree in physics at the Royal Military College in 2000, with a research focus on wide field of view satellite tracking.

Career

In 2013, Hansen served as cavenaut into the ESA CAVES training in Sardinia, alongside Satoshi Furukawa, Michael Barratt, Jack Fisher, Aleksei Ovchinin and Paolo Nespoli. On June 10, 2014, NASA announced that Hansen would serve as an aquanaut aboard the Aquarius underwater laboratory during the NEEMO 19 undersea exploration mission, which began on September 7, 2014, and lasted seven days. On April 3, 2023, he was announced as part of the upcoming Artemis II mission to be the first Canadian to travel to the Moon.

Personal life

Hansen is married to Catherine Hansen and has three children.

Honours and awards