COLUMN: Viewpoint – Artemis brings people together

Could the billions of dollars spent on the Artemis space program have been used to solve problems here on earth? No doubt. But as Marshall Shepherd, writing in Forbes Magazine, reminds readers, many of our beneficial and vital medical, transportation and communication advances have been developed thanks to space exploration. Shepherd also highlights how the Artemis mission has brought people together at a time when divisions in society and politics are particularly nasty.

I found other things to admire about the Artemis II space flight. One was the crew’s diversity. These astronauts moved well beyond the white-male dominated Apollo era of space travel. Victor Glover was on board, the first Black astronaut to fly a lunar mission. Also included was Christina Hammock Koch, the first female astronaut to travel into deep space. And of course, our own Jeremy Hansen was part of the crew. As a Canadian, he represented the international nature of the mission. The four flyers went farther away from Earth than any human beings have ever been before. Their leader Reid Wiseman, age 50, was the oldest person to travel beyond earth’s low orbit. The Artemis II astronauts brilliantly demonstrated how people of diverse ages, genders, nationalities and races can work together to accomplish important things. Jeremy Hansen commenting on the diversity of the crew to the North American public, said, “We are a mirror reflecting you.”

I’m also delighted the Artemis space program, which will be ongoing for the next decade, has been named for a woman. The Greek goddess Artemis is the moon deity and twin sister of the god Apollo. Artemis is the first major NASA human spaceflight program named after a woman. One of its aims is to land the first woman on the moon. Many women’s scientific achievements went unrecognized in the past as men took the credit. So it’s great to see a major scientific project with a female name.

Another woman’s name also became important on the flight when the astronauts requested a lunar crater be named after Carroll Wiseman. She is the late wife of the Artemis II commander Reid Wiseman. A pediatric and infant intensive care nurse, Carroll passed away from cancer at age 46 in 2020, leaving her husband to raise their two young daughters.

An unexpected but appreciated feature of the Artemis mission was the chance it provided for me to get to know more about Jeremy Hansen’s life partner Dr. Catherine Hansen. She is a physician and expert in women’s health who holds a Master of Public Health from John Hopkins University. She founded the Empowered Women’s Circle, a global network that advances women’s health, leadership and education world-wide.

I followed Dr. Hansen on her social media and she provided excellent insight into what it is like for an astronaut’s family to send a loved one into space. She admitted experiencing an underlying hum of anxiety the whole time, but also said their three teenage children were able to have some heartwarming, and meaningful personal conversations with their Dad while he was in space. She joked she could hardly wait for her husband to come home to do his usual chores like taking out the trash and brewing her morning cup of coffee. Following along with Dr. Hansen while Jeremy was in space, made it clear an astronaut’s family plays a very important role in their success.

The Artemis II space voyage reinforced the value of diversity in teamwork, highlighted the contributions of women, reminded us of the worthwhile legacy of those who’ve died too soon, and illustrated the importance of family support for all our endeavors.