Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen sends well wishes to family back home from the edge of space

Jeremy Hansen’s parents received an email from their son as he embarked on a lunar flyby on Monday. CTV’s Bryan Bicknell reports.

No son or daughter has ever written home from farther away.

But the son of an Ingersoll, Ont., couple, along with his three crew members, can now claim out-of-this world records in both space exploration and personal correspondence.

“We’re one of the privileged ones that get to email them up there in space,” said Nancy Hansen, mother of Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen.

“We emailed him, it was the fourth [of April], and then he replied yesterday. So, we were just so excited that we actually got an email from outer space,” she said.

“Basically, he just said, ‘I’m having a great time’ and then, ‘Love you, mom and dad,’” explained Nancy.

She and Gary Hansen, Jeremy’s father, spent Easter Monday in Fort Meyers, Fla., watching coverage of the Artemis II mission, as it completes its record-breaking lunar flyby.

“Quite amazing, quite exciting to see him getting his dream. He said he would like to land on the moon. He’s not going to land, but he’ll get close anyway,” said Gary.

The crew has now officially set a new distance record, travelling more than 406,000 kilometres. When Orion passed behind the moon Monday evening, the spacecraft entered a communications blackout of about 40 minutes as the lunar surface blocked radio signals.

Nancy said while she has lost sleep this week thinking about her son’s mission, she is not concerned about the temporary blackout.

“We had a pre-party and a post-party with people from NASA, and the CSA [Canadian Space Agency], and there were a lot of Canadian and American astronauts there, and they all told us that everything should be okay. They’ve given us a lot of support, so we’re feeling fairly confident.”

The crew then took turns observing and photographing geological features on the moon. It’s a window to new frontiers Nancy and Gary believe will inspire the next generation of Canadian scientists.

“I’m sure this is going to be an inspiration for them,” Gary remarked.

“It’s going to really get them to be more interested in education and following their dream. It’s amazing what Jeremy is doing for those kids,” added Nancy.

In the meantime, the proud parents have been invited to mission control in Houston, Texas, to watch the splashdown, as the Artemis II is set to return to Earth Friday evening.

A message from Jeremy Hansen

In a message from Jeremy Hansen early Monday evening, before Orion lost contact with Earth as it flew behind the moon, Hansen said it’s “extraordinary” to be on the far side of the moon, and sent his loved ones well wishes.

“If Catherine and Devon are there, if they are, just wanted to let them know how much fun we’re having out here...its’ extraordinary to be on the far side of the moon right now, just hanging out and looking back at Earth,” he said.

“And Ashley and Kaitlin I know you’re back in Canada but if you’re watching too, just wanted to say hi and love you guys. We’ll be heading back your way shortly,” Hansen added.

The Artemis II mission is historic for Canada, with Hansen being the first non-American to fly beyond low Earth orbit, Tim Haltigin, a senior scientist with the Canadian Space Agency, told The Canadian Press at the agency’s headquarters on Montreal’s South Shore.

As the Artemis II astronauts set a new record on Monday for being the farthest humans from Earth, Hansen said they hoped others would soon go even farther.

The six-hour lunar flyby, which began at 2:45 p.m. eastern time, is the highlight of NASA’s first return to the moon since the Apollo era, with three Americans and one Canadian — a step toward landing boot prints near the moon’s south pole in just two years.

With files from CTV News National’s Heather Butts , The Canadian Press