One week after the groundbreaking Artemis II lunar mission launched from Florida, family members of the four-person crew are sharing their deeply personal experiences watching their loved ones make history, with unique insight from the wife of Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen — the first non-American astronaut to journey toward Earth’s celestial satellite.
In an exclusive interview with AFP, Catherine Hansen, a Canadian obstetrician-gynecologist, opened up about the rollercoaster of emotions she has experienced while following her husband’s trailblazing trip from Earth. Dressed in rocket-shaped earrings for her video interview, she described how she has clung to every update from NASA mission control and every word shared during private family calls with the crew.
The Artemis II mission, humanity’s first crewed lunar flyby mission in over 50 years, is a critical test flight designed to validate the safety and performance of NASA’s new Space Launch System rocket and Orion crew capsule, neither of which had carried humans before launch. Hansen and his crewmates — NASA astronauts Victor Glover, Reid Wiseman, and Christina Koch — have already reached a historic distance of 250,000 miles (400,000 kilometers) from Earth, a new record for human spaceflight.
Catherine and the couple’s three children traveled to NASA’s Johnson Space Center mission control in Houston earlier this week to watch the crew’s close lunar flyby, shortly after which they connected with Jeremy for a private call. She recalled how he vividly described the staggering view of the Moon from the capsule’s window, noting the celestial body appeared strikingly three-dimensional, like a full globe hanging in the blackness of space. Hansen will share these firsthand observations with the public once he returns to Earth, Catherine confirmed.
Before he launched, Jeremy gave his wife a high-powered pair of binoculars to watch the Moon from Earth during the mission. “Our family would lie down and look at various places on the Moon that he would identify based on his mapping and his study guides,” Catherine explained. Many of those mapped sites were later observed up close by the Artemis II crew during their flyby.
One of the most tense moments of the mission for the family came during the crew’s pass behind the far side of the Moon, when all communications with Earth were intentionally cut off for roughly 40 minutes. Catherine admitted that this period triggered particular anxiety: “I wanted to be there for that, because as someone who has never flown in space, I wanted to make sure they actually reacquired signal.” She said she was surprised by the calm, confident energy of mission control teams, who showed no visible stress, trusting entirely in the pre-planned flight sequence.
“It has been a very emotional week,” Catherine said. Before the launch, Catherine, her children, and the families of the other three Artemis II astronauts gathered near the Florida launch pad to watch the rocket lift off. “It was absolutely incredible. And I think everyone is sort of at a loss for words. I don’t think anyone was quite prepared,” she recalled.
To stay connected during the mission, Catherine and their three children pre-recorded personal videos for Jeremy to view while he orbits near the Moon. The astronaut later told reporters that watching those messages in deep space was an unforgettable experience.
For Catherine, the mix of overwhelming joy, pride, and lingering anxiety has defined the week, as the family counts down to the crew’s splashdown in the Pacific Ocean, scheduled for Friday. “There’s been a lot of happiness and excitement, a lot of joy but also some anxiety and some wanting to get him home safely,” she said. The Hansen family is now preparing to welcome Jeremy home after his history-making journey.