Carney Speaks with Artemis II Crew on Historic Mission

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney spoke with astronaut Jeremy Hansen and the Artemis II crew on Wednesday during a live connection from NASA's Orion spacecraft, celebrating Hansen's historic role as the first non-American to venture into deep space on a lunar mission.

The call, hosted by the Canadian Space Agency at the John H. Chapman Space Centre in Longueuil, Quebec, marked the agency's final space-to-Earth link for the 10-day Artemis II flight. Carney joined remotely from Ottawa, while Industry Minister Melanie Joly attended in person alongside students, Indigenous elder Bryan Akwirente Deer of the Mohawk Nation of Kahnawake, and CSA astronaut Joshua Kutryk, who coordinated the event. The crew, including commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, and mission specialist Christina Koch, had completed a seven-hour lunar flyby on Monday, traveling farther from Earth than any humans before and surpassing the Apollo 13 distance record from 1970.

Carney began in French, expressing national pride. "All Canadians are so proud of you, for a number of reasons of course, but it was incredible to hear you speak French for the first time in space," he said. Hansen, a 50-year-old Royal...