Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen is orbiting the Moon. Take a look inside the capsule
Think of it like a long family trip, with everyone packed into a minivan with all their luggage – except you’re driving down the road at 28,000 km/h and with no potholes for about 10 days.
That’s what four astronauts, including Jeremy Hansen of the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), can expect when they travel around the moon in the Orion capsule as part of NASA’s Artemis II lunar mission.
The spacecraft could launch as early as Wednesday evening from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, just two months after the initial launch was postponed due to a hydrogen leak. During wet dress rehearsal. NASA also postponed plans march for effort After a problem was discovered with the rocket’s helium flow.
The crew – which also includes veteran NASA astronauts Reed Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch – have trained extensively and are prepared for their time in tight conditions as they travel one million kilometers from Earth to orbit the Moon and back.
“They’re going to go further than any human has ever gone,” said astronaut David Saint-Jacques, deputy director of the lunar exploration program at CSA.
This is a test flight and Saint-Jacques says there will be a lot to learn from it, including day-to-day life during a modern lunar mission and possible deep space travel in the future.
As astronauts prepare for the first crewed lunar mission since Apollo 17 in 1972, here’s a peek inside the Orion capsule that will take them around the Moon.
For the first time in more than half a century, astronauts will soon go back to the Moon. CBC’s Nicole Mortillaro details preparations for the mission, Artemis II, which will send astronauts on a historic loop around the moon.
How big is Orion?
According to Saint-Jacques, a minivan or SUV is an accurate comparison when it comes to the Orion’s size.
There’s about 9.3 cubic meters of space inside the capsule, but it’s “much bigger than it looks,” he says, and more of that space can be used when you’re floating in zero gravity.
This is much more difficult than what Saint-Jacques experienced during his 204 days on the International Space Station (ISS), which he describes as the size of five or six school buses, before returning to Earth in June 2019.
But he says the Artemis II mission crew had a “unique” opportunity to design a new spacecraft and determine what would work best for them.
“They have to make sure they equally share the time looking out the window,” he said, “because it will be an incredible view of our planet’s retreat.”
Where do they sleep?
At the end of the day, the astronauts will stretch out or curl up inside hammock-like sleeping bags that are strapped to the capsule.
Saint-Jacques says you can sleep quite comfortably in microgravity, comparing it to “dozing in a swimming pool.”
Sleep will be important, so they’ll go to bed and wake up at the same time every day, says Dr. Farhan Asrar, a space medicine researcher and associate dean of the School of Medicine at Metropolitan University of Toronto.
And while not every person’s sleep patterns are exactly the same, he says his travel kit will include earplugs, a sleep mask, and even sleep aid medication if needed.
A challenge, he says, that will be overshadowed by the excitement of being part of such a massive mission and seeing the Moon from a perspective not seen in more than five decades.
Jeremy Hansen knows the risks that come with travel in deep space. Ahead of NASA’s Artemis II mission around the moon, the Canadian astronaut tells The National’s Ian Hanumansing about his intense training and preparation for the worst-case scenario.
What will they eat?
Astronauts have long relied on freeze-dried food that is easily rehydrated and eaten in spacecraft.
It may not sound appetizing but Saint-Jacques says it’s actually quite tasty, although he admits that not everything can be prepared for space travel and that he looks forward to eating scrambled eggs after returning to Earth.
Each crew member has an 11-day menu tailored to meet both their nutritional needs and personal preferences.
There is a food warmer on board – a flat metal box the size of a small briefcase that takes about an hour to heat food.
In a vlog CSA posted last year (see below), Hansen said she selected foods she didn’t mind eating at room temperature.
The CSA says Hansen will also have some Canadian treats, from maple products to salmon bites and curry, that he can enjoy with three other people.
Look What will astronauts eat on Orion – and how will they prepare it?:
How much water should they drink?
Unlike the ISS, Orion will not have unlimited potable water (more on this below).
The capsule has four tanks that will store 240 kg water And each person must use their daily allotment for both food preparation and drinking.
Hydration in space is just as important as it is on Earth, Asrar says, but outer space doesn’t have the same physical demands on the human body because less muscle movement is required.
How will they go to the toilet?
Obviously, what goes in must come out and the astronauts on the Artemis II mission have a waste disposal system for what nature demands.
The lunar toilet, if you like, is no different from an airplane toilet because it uses a vacuum system.
But you have to tie your feet tightly so that you don’t get carried away while going about your business.
It has a tube for peeing – each astronaut has their own funnel to attach – and a bucket-like receptacle for when it’s time to have a bowel movement.
The waste management system on Orion is more “rudimentary” than the facilities on the ISS, says Saint-Jacques.
On the ISS, urine is treated and recycled into potable water, while feces are contained in canisters that are eventually shipped to an unmanned cargo spacecraft and released into Earth’s atmosphere and burned.
All waste collected on Orion will be stored on board and returned to Earth.
Look What would you do if you had to go number two on your way to the moon:
How will they bathe?
The easy answer is that they don’t, at least not in the way an average person might do every morning.
Hansen, in a video CSA posted last fall, explaining that they actually only have “wet wipes” to wash their bodies and that they will also have deodorant.
According to the agency, astronauts will be provided with liquid soap that they can use with a washcloth and no-rinse shampoo.
They can use water to brush their teeth and rinse, but without a sink they will spit into the towel.
How will they maintain their physical and mental health?
The trip may be much shorter than a stint on the ISS, but Orion crew members will need to maintain their physical fitness on board.
They will have what is described as a flywheel – a cable device that can be used for aerobic exercise like rowing, but also for weight-bearing workouts like squats and deadlifts.
Asrar says astronauts’ bone density begins to lose in space and resistance exercises help combat this.
As far as any medical needs, Saint-Jacques says the astronauts not only have a range of medications on hand should they need them, but each of them will also have them tested in training to make sure there are no adverse reactions.
When it comes to mental health, he says astronauts are like the rest of us, having good days and bad days at work and feeling homesick to some degree.
But he says the crew members, who have been training together for this mission since June 2023, are now like a family who can depend on each other during this extraordinary mission.
Ahead of NASA’s Artemis II mission around the Moon, The National’s Ian Hanumansingh talks to Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen about the intense training required and preparing for the worst-case scenario.
