‘Happy to see him fly’: Artemis II backup astronaut celebrates Hansen’s success

The Artemis II mission’s record-breaking trip around the moon earlier this month may have had you wanting to venture into space, but one Canadian woman was next in line.

Calgary-born astronaut Jenni Gibbons was Jeremy Hansen’s backup for the moon mission, which splashed down successfully on April 11.

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Gibbons joined the CKOM Morning Show on Wednesday to share what it was like watching the mission unfold.

Listen to the full interview with Gibbons:

“When we talk about any sort of feelings toward not flying, it’s an interesting thing,” Gibbons explained. “When you’re a backup astronaut, it’s kind of a level of service that you commit to, and in my mind this was always going to be Jeremy’s mission.”

Gibbons underwent all the same rigorous training as the four crew members, but she said Hansen was “so ready to fly” and the Artemis II mission, “suited him so well.”

“My mindset going in has always been ‘I’ll support it if needed in that capacity,’ but very, very happy to see him fly,” she said.

Calgary-born astronaut Jenni Gibbins said her mindset was always that Artemis II was Jeremy Hansen’s mission. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP — Handout, Canadian Space Agency)

With her feet on solid ground during the 10-day spaceflight, Gibbons’s role transitioned into one of mission support. She said a lot of energy and training went into getting Artemis II around the moon, so seeing it executed the way it was made her proud of the team and proud that Canada was part of it.

It’s “been a long time coming,” Gibbons said.

The mission wasn’t without any issues. Gibbons said the biggest problem was “the lack of ability to dump urine through the primary wastewater line that was connected to the toilet.”

The issue posed a “huge human impact,” Gibbons said, explaining how the Artemis II crew had to be talked through fixing the problem, with Christian Koch serving as the “initial expert on the toilet.”

While the crew couldn’t send or receive signals for a short period while passing behind the moon, Gibbons said that was expected, and something that was planned for in advance.

“It wasn’t probably as nail-biting or nerve-wracking as some people might have expected from viewing it and not understanding that we were preparing for a long time for that,” Gibbons said.

The four crew members landed back on Earth on April 10, and Gibbons said “they are just so full of joy” about how well the mission went.

Gibbons said she’s heard about the impact that seeing Earth from space has on a person, so it didn’t surprise her when the crew was largely at a loss for words when asked to describe what they’d experienced.

As for what comes next, Gibbons said she isn’t sure if she’ll be on the crew of Artemis III. She said the mission’s parameters are still being defined, and Canada already got a lot out of the program just by having Hansen onboard.