Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen has a special piece for his historic lunar flight, which could begin as soon as April 1.
Jeremy Hansenwho has Canadian Space Agency (CSA), will fly as a mission specialist to Artemis 2 mission plus three NASA pilots: Reid Wiseman (commander of Artemis 2), pilot Victor Glover (that will be the first Black person to go Earth’s lower orbitor LEO) and mission specialist Christina Koch (the first woman to do so). Hansen will be the first non-American since LEO.
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“Over the past ten years, Jeremy has been fortunate to be invited by many Indian communities to live with Elders and Knowledge Keepers,” CSA said. Commentator for April 2025 which describes the patch. “They have blessed him with the knowledge and lessons he takes with him as he prepares for his mission. These valuable experiences have given Jeremy a deep appreciation for Indigenous ways of knowing.”
Hansen reflected on these journeys, including a The ambition of the 2023 vision and Turtle Lodge in Manitoba, during a live Q&A with entrepreneur Fred Bastien CSA’s YouTube channel in November 2025.
“I have had the privilege, in my travels across Canada, of being invited by many. [Indigenous] Elders to stay with,” said Hansen in the interview. “Sometimes I participate in cultural ceremonies, sweat lodges, pipe ceremonies, and I just sit and talk with the Elders. Whoever has had more time in this world, is wiser. “
The patch, the CSA explains, contains “elements of Anishinaabe culture.” These are not intended to represent all aspects of First Nations, Inuit and Métis culture, but reflect “the importance of cultural and Indigenous knowledge in Canada.” The patch was created by Anishinaabe artist Henry Guimond of the Sagkeeng First Nation in Manitoba. Dave Courchene III (Sabe), leader of the Turtle Lodge in Sagkeeng First Nation, also contributed to the patch.
Hansen says the patch embodies one aspect of Anishinaabe ideology – the seven sacred cultural laws, as represented by the patch’s heptagonal shape, along with the seven animals.
“Just a quick one: The buffalo represents respect. The eagle, love. The bear is courage. The sasquatch is loyalty. The beaver is wisdom. The wolf is humility, and the turtle is truth. None of us is perfect. We are not always able to walk with that honesty, but if we try hard, they will bring each of us a rich life.” (More information on animal meaning is available on the CSA page.)
These are some of the most important points for the project. The bullet points below are from the same CSA commenter.
- The bow is meant to represent the Greek goddess of the hunt, Artemis, who from Artemis program takes its name. Artemis is shown presenting an arrow to the astrologers near “Grandmother Moon, who conveys the cycle of life…the arrow departs from Turtle Island, which refers to the North American continent in the creation stories of some Native Americans.”
- Hansen’s lifelong association with the Royal Canadian Air Force, where he currently serves as a colonel, is reflected in the service’s astronaut wings. Wings also “recognizes the sacrifice of Jeremy’s fellow service members and their families.”
- The Canadian flag not only represents the people from the community who worked directly on this mission but also “brings all Canadians symbolically to this mission around the moon.”
- A known asterism of The Big Dipperalong with The North Starboth are shown to show “a reminder that mankind exists in the midst of an immeasurably vast universe.” These celestial visions are a reflection of all the cultures – including the indigenous people – who have traveled through them in the past.
- The North Star is presented with five points, representing the five members of Hansen’s immediate family (him, his wife and three children) as well as the state of Texas, where Hansen and his family have lived since he was recruited as a CSA astronomer in 2009. (The state flag of Texas has a five-pointed star.)
- The silver lining of the patch is meant to represent The Orion spacecraft will land on Artemis 2. The border also honors the CSA, which supported space exploration through “the extraordinary efforts of its past and present members to … return its benefits to humanity.”
- The thin blue line within the silver border “represents the light or spirit that is in all of us – in all people, plants and animals. This spirit will accompany the crew inside the capsule.”
Artemis 2 will be Hansen’s first mission; was selected for the Canadian astronaut corps in 2009 but is waiting to fly much because the CSA contributes less than 3% to International Space Station activities. That works out to an astronaut’s career in an orbiting laboratory about every six years at current flight rates.
However, Hansen’s seat is supported separately from the ISS agreement. It came after Canada committed to the Artemis program by contributing the Canadarm3 robotic arm, which is expected to fly on NASA’s mission. Gateway A space station orbiting the moon later this decade.
Hansen is the only astronaut among the Artemis 2 crew, but he is widely recognized within NASA and CSA for his valuable contributions to the program on the ground. These include managing training programs for the entire astronaut class (class of 2017), helping to create tools for critical maintenance of dark matter detector on the ISS, and help advise space policy makers in Canada.
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