Who is Jeremy Hansen, the Canadian astronaut in the Artemis crew?

Long before he was chosen to orbit the Moon in the ongoing Artemis II mission, Jeremy Hansen was a young cadet at the Royal Military College of Canada. He carried a dream - and had a chance interaction that would help shape his future. In 1995, during his first year at the military college, Hansen met one of his heroes: Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield. That was before Hadfield had served as commander of the International Space Station. But Hansen saw in his compatriot much of what he aspired to be: a fighter pilot and an astronaut. Hansen asked Hadfield for his email address, and got it on the spot. The brief encounter marked the beginning of a journey that would see Hansen follow closely in his hero's footsteps - first as a fighter pilot, and then by joining the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) in 2009. Throughout his astronaut training, his mentor along the way was Hadfield, a young Hansen told the BBC in 2014. The simple but lasting advice he was given: follow what makes you passionate. "Jeremy has been getting ready for this flight since he was five years old," Hadfield told Canadian singer Emm Gryner in a podcast in March. Hansen, now 50, grew up on a farm near London, Ontario, w

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