The personal mission patch for Canadian Space Agency (CSA) astronaut Jeremy Hansen, based on artwork by artist Henry Guimond of Sagkeeng First Nation in Manitoba. (Image credit: Canadian Space Agency) Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Get the Space.com Newsletter Breaking space news, the latest updates on rocket launches, skywatching events and more!
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An account already exists for this email address, please log in. Subscribe to our newsletterCanadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen has a special mission patch for his historic moon flight, which could launch as soon as April 1.
Jeremy Hansen, who is with the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), will fly as a mission specialist on the Artemis 2 mission alongside three NASA astronauts: Reid Wiseman (the Artemis 2 commander), pilot Victor Glover (who will become the first Black person to leave low Earth orbit, or LEO) and mission specialist Christina Koch (the first woman to do so). Hansen will become the first non-American to leave LEO.
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"For the past decade, Jeremy has been fortunate to be invited by numerous Indigenous communities to sit with Elders and Knowledge Keepers," the CSA said in an April 2025 explainer describing the patch. "They have blessed him with knowledge and teachings that he carries with him as he prepares for his mission. These precious experiences have given Jeremy a profound appreciation for Indigenous ways of knowing."
Hansen reflected on these journeys, including a 2023 vision quest with Turtle Lodge in Manitoba, during a livestreamed Q&A with entrepreneur Fred Bastien on the CSA's YouTube channel in November 2025.
"I've had the privilege, just in my travels across Canada, I've been invited by numerous [Indigenous] Elders to sit with them," Hansen said in that interview. "Sometimes I participate in traditional ceremonies, sweat lodges, pipe ceremonies, and then just sitting and chatting with Elders. Anybody who's had more time on this planet, the wiser you are."
The patch, CSA explains, has "elements of Anishinaabe culture." These are not meant to represent all aspects of First Nations, Inuit and Métis culture, but they do show "the importance of traditional knowledge and Indigenous Peoples in Canada." The patch was created by Anishinaabe artist Henry Guimond of Sagkeeng First Nation in Manitoba. Dave Courchene III (Sabe), the leader of the Turtle Lodge in Sagkeeng First Nation, also contributed to the patch.
Get the Space.com NewsletterContact me with news and offers from other Future brandsReceive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsorsHansen said the patch incorporates one element of Anishinaabe perspectives — the culture's seven sacred laws, as represented by the heptagonal shape of the patch, as well as seven animals.
"Just quickly: The buffalo represents respect. The eagle, love. The bear is courage. The sasquatch is honesty. The beaver is wisdom. The wolf is humility, and the turtle is truth. None of us are perfect. We're not always able to walk in that integrity, but if we strive to, they will bring a rich life for each of us." (More information about the animals' meaning is available on the CSA webpage.)
These are some of the other significant elements of the mission patch. Information in the bullet points below comes from that same CSA explainer.
- The bow is meant to represent the Greek goddess of the hunt, Artemis, from which the Artemis program takes its name. Artemis is depicted launching both an arrow and the astronauts around "Grandmother Moon, who conveys the cycle of life … the arrow launches from Turtle Island, which refers to the continent of North America in the creation stories of some Indigenous peoples."
- Hansen's lifelong affiliation with the Royal Canadian Air Force, where he serves now as a colonel, is shown in the service's astronaut wings. The wings also "recognize the sacrifice of Jeremy's fellow service members and their families."
- The Canadian flag not only represents people from the nation who have worked directly on the mission but "also to symbolically bring all Canadians along on this mission around the moon."
- The famous asterism of the Big Dipper, as well as the North Star, are both depicted to show "a reminder that humanity exists amongst an unimaginably expansive universe." These sky sights are also an allusion to all cultures — including Indigenous peoples — who have navigated by them in the past.
- The North Star is depicted with five points, to represent 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 been living since he was recruited as a CSA astronaut in 2009. (The Texas state flag features a five-pointed star.)
- The silver border of the patch is meant to represent the Orion spacecraft that will house the four astronauts on Artemis 2. The border also honors the CSA, which supported space exploration through "the extraordinary efforts of both its past and present members to … bring its benefits back to humanity."
- The thin blue line inside the silver border "represents the light or spirit that is in all of us — in all humankind, plants and animals. This spirit will travel with the crew aboard the capsule."
Artemis 2 will be Hansen's first mission; he was selected for the Canadian astronaut corps in 2009 but has waited to fly in large part because the CSA contributes a less-than-3% share to International Space Station activities. That works out to an astronaut mission to the orbiting lab about every six years at current flight rates.
Hansen's seat is funded separately to the ISS agreement, however. It came after Canada committed to the Artemis program by contributing the Canadarm3 robotic arm, which is expected to fly to NASA's planned Gateway moon-orbiting space station later this decade.
Hansen is the only spaceflight rookie among the Artemis 2 crew, but he is widely recognized within both NASA and CSA for significant program contributions on the ground. These include managing the training schedules for an entire astronaut class (the 2017 class), helping to create tools for the tricky repair of a dark matter detector on the ISS, and helping to advise space policymakers in Canada.
Elizabeth HowellContributing WriterElizabeth Howell (she/her), Ph.D., was a staff writer in the spaceflight channel between 2022 and 2024 specializing in Canadian space news. She was contributing writer for Space.com for 10 years from 2012 to 2024. Elizabeth's reporting includes multiple exclusives with the White House, leading world coverage about a lost-and-found space tomato on the International Space Station, witnessing five human spaceflight launches on two continents, flying parabolic, working inside a spacesuit, and participating in a simulated Mars mission. Her latest book, "Why Am I Taller?" (ECW Press, 2022) is co-written with astronaut Dave Williams.
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