Artemis II crew gets hero's welcome at Canadian Space Agency headquarters in Quebec

Astronauts of the Artemis II mission, left to right, Artemis capsule communicator Jenni Gibbons, mission specialist Jeremy Hansen, mission specialist Christina Koch, pilot Victor Glover and Commander Reid Wiseman take part in a question-and-answer event at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa on Wednesday, May 13, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

LONGUEUIL — Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen and the rest of the Artemis II crew have received a hero’s welcome at Canadian Space Agency headquarters after their journey to the far side of the moon.

Hansen told a cheering crowd in Longueuil, Que., that many of the people in the room helped make the mission a success.

The 10-day mission took Hansen, mission commander Reid Wiseman and astronauts Victor Glover and Christina Koch farther from Earth than any humans before them.

Koch told the crowd that both she and Glover previously trained in Canada and that the CSA feels like home to them too.

The crew then answered questions from Industry Minister Mélanie Joly and members of the public alongside Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jenni Gibbons, who was part of the team at NASA’s Mission Control Center.

Wiseman said the international makeup of the Artemis II crew brought a diversity of perspectives that strengthened the mission and united the world.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 14, 2025.

Morgan Lowrie, The Canadian Press