After more than 50 years, humans are once again preparing to land on the moon.
NASA is leading the Artemis program, which the Canadian Space Agency is part of; as a part of that, Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen will become the first person who isn't an American to travel to the moon as part of the Artemis II mission.
The mission is the lead up to the Artemis III launch, which intends to land astronauts on the lunar surface.
Because Artemis II isn't landing on the moon, the spacecraft will remain high above the surface; it'll mean Hansen and the rest of the crew will travel farther from Earth than any other human.
Before all that he'll be answering questions as part of a UBC event.
While Hansen won't be in Vancouver, a virtual event is being held, with people able to either gather at UBC or join in via Zoom.
During the hour-long event, Hansen will give a 20-minute presentation and then be free for a public question-and-answer period, states UBC in a press release.
The event will take place from 3:30 p.m to 4:30 p.m. on March 27.
It's free, but registration is required for all participants.
Artemis II
Even though the Artemis II mission won't be landing on the moon, it's going to be setting a few firsts.
It'll be the first time humans have left low-Earth orbit since 1972, it'll be the first time the new Orion spacecraft is crewed in space (an unmanned Artemis I launch occurred in 2022), and it'll be the first time a crewed mission will use the new Space Launch System NASA has developed.
The mission is expected to launch sometime in the fall of 2025, though an exact date has not been set. It could last anywhere from eight to 21 days and will allow the crew and researchers on Earth to test out various systems as the Artemis program ramps up to a moon landing.
