Twelve-year-old Ella Mae McComber went to the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) to ask a question to astronaut Jeremy Hansen and the rest of the Artemis II crew as they explored outer space.Courtesy Tasha Kirby
Twelve-year-old Ella Mae McComber was over the moon last week when she made contact with the Artemis II space mission, asking a question of astronaut Jeremy Hansen as he and his team soared hundreds of thousands of kilometres into outer space.
“I was nervous at first, but super excited too, I didn’t think I was able to actually connect with them,” said McComber. “When I did, it was a great experience.”
McComber was able to speak with the astronauts aboard the Orion spacecraft, also known as Integrity, during a space-to-earth livestream last week, where the astronauts also fielded questions from Canadian prime minister Mark Carney during their 10-day lunar fly-by. The trip marked the first crewed mission to the moon in over 50 years, and Hansen is the first Canadian to fly into deep space.
The Q&A event, hosted by the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), was opened with the Ohènton Karihwatéhkwen read in Kanien’kéha by Kahnawake’s Bryan Akwirente Deer, who shared a little about the meaning and his thoughts on the astronaut’s mission to the moon with attendees.
“The Grandmother Moon has a lot of jobs for us, a great responsibility, she works with the women, and she’s the one that we say leads the faces yet to come, the children yet to come,” he said.
“I want to thank the Creator, for still putting everything here on the Earth for us, and allowing us to still live on this Earth.”