Astronaut Jeremy Hansen Revealed The 'Little Piece Of Canada' He Wants To Bring To The Moon

Space will be tight on the Artemis II mission when it blasts off for a trip around the moon next year, but Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen is looking forward to representing his home and native land on that historic journey — and he's putting a lot of thought into what he'll bring along.

The former fighter pilot from London, Ont., has already been pencilled into the history books as the first Canadian to visit the moon, and he's well aware that all eyes will be on him when he makes that trip sometime in late 2024.

Hansen recently sat down with Narcity and told us that he's still working out all the Canada-specific items he hopes to bring on the flight, but there's one Canadian snack that he knows will be a hit onboard.

"I probably will end up bringing maple cookies," Hansen told Narcity. He added that Reid Wiseman, one of the three NASA astronauts on the trip, is a particularly big fan of that Canadian treat. "He just loves maple cookies, and so just to keep him happy I'll bring some maple cookies," Hansen said. "It's a little part of Canada and it's something that I know the crew will appreciate."

Hansen, Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch will be the first crew to fly to around moon as part of NASA's new Artemis program, which aims to ultimately set up a more permanent presence for humanity on the lunar service and in its orbit. That all began with the Artemis I mission last November, which send an uncrewed Orion spacecraft around the moon and back.

Hansen and the other astronauts will make a similar journey as soon as November 2024 as part of the Artemis II mission, with later missions expected to actually put more people — including a woman and a person of colour — on the lunar surface.

NASA's Apollo missions always involved American astronauts, but this time is special because they're including Hansen from the Canadian Space Agency.

He says he's excited to represent Canada in space, and he's already taking some advice from Canadian legend Chris Hadfield about the journey. Hansen says that advice was simple: "Share the normal."

In other words, Hansen plans to show Canadians what it's actually like on that eight-to-10-day trip to the moon by sharing his routine in space, just as Hadfield used to do on the International Space Station. Hansen adds that he's no good with a guitar, but he will find other ways to make it his own.

As for what else he'll bring on the journey, he says it'll have to be something small due to weight restrictions. However, the married father of three says he wants to make sure his family is represented on the trip.

"Family is super important to me," he said.

NASA has not announced the crew for its Artemis III mission to land on the moon, but we still asked Hansen what he would take to the moon if he had a chance to do so. The Americans left a flag on the surface, so what might he leave there from Canada?

Hansen says he'd probably take something from the natural world, or maybe a piece of rock from the Canadian Shield.

Regardless of whether he's on that mission, Hansen says Canadians should be proud that the Canadian Space Agency has earned a spot on this historic flight to the moon.

"This is a big deal," he told Narcity. "I just want to reflect that back to Canadians. They need to feel that pride."

Chris Hadfield has already said he's excited to see this mission take off, and he sees "tremendous potential" in what the Artemis missions can accomplish for humanity in the future.

"We've only just scratched the surface," Hadfield told Narcity last year.

Jeremy Hansen and the Artemis II crew are expected to launch as early as November 2024.