Edmontonians near and far excited for return of Artemis II moon mission

After a journey that took them farther from Earth than any other humans before them, the crew of the Artemis II mission is back home.

Just call it local lunar-cy.

The hype around the Artemis II mission to the moon and back has been generating plenty of buzz at Edmonton’s Telus World of Science, where lead science presenter Joel Weatherly says visitors have been asking about the 10-day journey by four astronauts, including one Canadian, “all week long.”

“We’ve been talking about it in our planetarium shows,” Weatherly told CTV News Edmonton on Friday, the day the Artemis II crew is due back on Earth. “We’ve been doing all sorts of really cool activities throughout the building. This has just been a fantastic time to get people excited about exploring space and excited about Canada’s contributions to space travel as well.”

Artemis II’s splashdown on Friday evening will mark the end of a successful mission around the moon, a journey of more than 1,117,000 kilometres that was humankind’s first lunar voyage in more than 50 years. The mission is the first of its kind and the furthest into space humans have ever travelled.

The Orion capsule is set to enter the Earth’s atmosphere in the afternoon at 40,000 km/h.

Jeremy Hansen, the mission’s sole Canadian, made history with his three American colleagues on the mission as they travelled deeper into space than anyone else. Hansen is the first Canadian Space Agency astronaut on board a lunar mission.

• Edmontonians celebrate the launch of history as Artemis II takes off

Canadian technology has played a part of the mission as well, with the Canadarm3 robotic arm front and centre.

The mission is inspirational in several ways, Weatherly says, beyond the Canadian involvement: it’s also seeing the first woman and the first black man to go around Earth’s lunar satellite.

“We’re getting to see new representation out there in space, inspiring a whole other generation of space explorers,” he said.

In the previous NASA Apollo missions of the 1960s and ’70s, Weatherly explains, astronauts sent to the moon “were all white dudes from the United States, and they were mostly fighter pilots, except for the very last one, when they sent a geologist up there.”

And now, things are changing. More scientists are being assigned to space missions and there’s more international involvement, he said.

“On board this one, we’ve got people from Canada. We have some European equipment on board, including the service module,” Weatherly said.

“This is really an international effort ... They’re going for all humanity, and they really mean it. They are showcasing the best of humanity right now out there in space.”

And at least one Edmontonian made the journey south to witness Artemis II’s journey firsthand from start to finish.

Zachary Aubert of YouTube channel The Launch Pad watched the Florida launch in person on April 1 and is in Houston at NASA’s Johnson Space Center headquarters to observe the crew’s return.

“I know everyone’s very excited to welcome them home, but I think we’re also excited that we’ll finally get to celebrate,” Aubert told CTV News Edmonton on Friday.

“I know us media, we’ve had our celebrations of ‘Look at these photos, look at these moments,’ but the administrator and NASA have made it very clear we are not celebrating this mission until they have splashed and are helicoptered onto the ship. Once they’re there, then they’re safe, then the party starts, and I’m excited to see how NASA celebrates them being home.”

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Brandon Lynch and Nahreman Issa