Calgary-born astronaut Jenni Gibbons was spotted sharing a moment at NASA’s Johnson Space Centre in Houston on Thursday. Gibbons is serving as a critical voice link from earth to the Artemis II crew. That crew includes fellow Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen, who’s onboard the Orion spacecraft, which left the earth’s orbit with one huge thrust. It’s a historic moon mission, the first one to send people to the moon in over 50 years. While Gibbons has dreamt of travelling to space since childhood, she said she’s close with Hansen and his family and is honoured to play a supporting role in the mission. “I just want more than anything to see his dream actualized and see him fly in space on a successful mission,” she said. Limitless possibilities It will be a monumental moment for a former Prairies kid whose childhood explorations of the landscape at home made her aware of the limitless possibilities of the universe. While everyone marvels at the night sky, few become astronauts. Gibbons said she had great role models and mentors growing up — people who showed her that nothing, not even outer space, was beyond her reach. “I just knew that it was a possibility,” Gibbons said. Her mom helped plant the seed by taking her to see legendary Canadian astronaut Roberta Bondar speak. She said she’s always been drawn to creative problem-solving and science. Blending those interests led her to engineering — she got a mechanical engineering degree from McGill before completing a PhD at Jesus College in Cambridge. “When Canada announced they were recruiting astronauts, I just thought back to all of that curiosity and all of that exposure early on,” Gibbons said. “And I thought, ‘How cool would it be to be a part of this?’” She was selected by the Canadian Space Agency in 2017 at the age of 28 — just the third woman to join the ranks of Canadian astronaut recruits — and soon relocated to Houston for training. Canada’s role Canada’s role in the upcoming moon mission is critical, Gibbons said. The country has many experts in tech fields that support space exploration, such as robotics. Investing in these groundbreaking technologies pushes Canada’s space expertise forward but also has an economic impact by creating jobs and inspiring innovation, Gibbons said. Space missions also help Canadians understand their own vast landscape better. “Space exploration is fundamental and important for the whole world, but especially for Canada because we are such a huge nation, where so many of our natural resources and really the heartbeat of our landscape can only be viewed and taken from outer space,” she said. “So investing in space assets is particularly important for us.” With files from The Canadian Press
