![]() ![]() The supersonic trainer soars as fast as Mach 1.6 and as high as 40,000 feet (12 kilometers), well above where many commercial airliners fly, according to NASA. Though it was only manufactured until 1972, more than 500 continue to be used by both the Air Force and NASA. Air Force pilots have trained in the T-38 since it first rolled off the line in 1961. Manufacturer Northrop Grumman says more than 72,000 U.S. 23, 1977, at Edwards Air Force Base in California. Three T-38 aircraft accompany space shuttle Enterprise during the third shuttle approach and landing test on Sept. You cannot press pause while you're flying a jet." ![]() You have to constantly filter out what is important, and to make decisions that could have big impacts. You have to monitor all that data the radio, on many channels talking at the same time. "You are in an uncomfortable cockpit," Saint-Jacques said in the video of the T-38 experience. He is a medical doctor by training who learned some basic flight moves from Hansen himself, shortly after both astronauts were selected by CSA. Saint-Jacques recorded a YouTube video lauding the T-38's capabilities in 2015. (Incidentally, that was the only spaceflight opportunity in recent years that either Hansen or Saint-Jacques were eligible for they were still astronaut candidates during selection for the last opportunity in 2012-13, which went to Chris Hadfield.) The T-38 has earned generations of respect from astronauts, including fellow CSA astronaut and 2009 class selectee David Saint-Jacques, who flew to the International Space Station in 2018-19. Related: Artemis 2's Canadian astronaut got their moon mission seat with 'potato salad'įour T-38 aircraft flown by astronauts over the Artemis 1 Space Launch System rocket in August 2022. He joined the Royal Military College as an undergraduate, and his flight experience includes serving as a CF-18 fighter pilot with two tactical fighter squadrons, along with a role as combat operations officer for NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command) operations, deployed exercises and Arctic flying operations. Hansen first began flying gliders with Canadian Air Cadets at age 16 and got his private pilot license the year after. While selected in 2009, he has not yet flown to space, as Canada has a modest 2.3% robotics contribution to the International Space Station, which works out to a CSA flight about every six years or so under current launching rates. He also has thousands of hours in the cockpit across different airplane types. Hansen has considerable ground experience to bring to his moon mission, including having managed the training schedules of the entire 2017 astronaut class - a first for a Canadian. ![]() ![]() The chief contribution is a robotic arm known as Canadarm3, which will service NASA's Gateway space station at the moon later in the decade. Hansen and Koch are mission specialists on that spacecraft, while Glover is pilot and Wiseman will be commander.Ĭanada's seat on Artemis 2 came via its contributions to NASA's Artemis program, which aims to establish a sustainable human presence on and around the moon by the end of the 2020s. (This week also marks the 54th anniversary of the first human moon-landing mission, Apollo 11, on July 20.)ĭuring Artemis 2, NASA has pledged that all four astronauts on board will get to fly the Orion spacecraft to provide data for future missions. The first human lunar landing mission since 1972's Apollo 17 will be Artemis 3, currently scheduled to launch in 2025 or 2026 if schedules hold. It includes NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, along with Hansen. Artemis 2 will be the first moon mission in a half-century with humans on board. ![]()
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