Photos: Ontario's Jeremy Hansen's boyhood moon dream nears reality with NASA’s Artemis II mission

National Post
Left: Jeremy Hansen posing inside an old Apollo spacesuit in a museum in Florida at the age of six. Photograph handout by Gary and Nancy Hansen. (Mike Hensen/The London Free Press) Right: Hansen at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on August 8, 2023. (CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP via Getty Images)

The launch window for NASA’s Artemis II opens on Wednesday – meaning liftoff may loom for the astronauts aboard what will be the first crewed journey beyond low-Earth orbit in more than 50 years. That includes Jeremy Hansen, 50, who was born in London and raised in Ailsa Craig and Ingersoll. He was five when his mom says he first spoke of going to the moon, and these family photos show it’s been a lifelong dream.

Jeremy Hansen poses inside an old Apollo spacesuit in a museum in Florida at the age of six. Photograph handout by Gary and Nancy Hansen.
Jeremy Hansen at the age of 11 in a spacesuit. Photograph handout by Gary and Nancy Hansen.
Jeremy Hansen at the age of 15 after his first skydive, with his parents Gary and Nancy. Photograph handout by Gary and Nancy Hansen.
Jeremy Hansen at the age of 15 after his first skydive. Photograph handout by Gary and Nancy Hansen.
A signed photograph of the four Artemis II astronauts in T-38s flying over the launch pad of Artemis I in Florida. Jeremy Hansen is third from the top. Photograph handout by Gary and Nancy Hansen.

mhensen@postmedia.com

nationalpost.com