The Decibel · The Globe and Mail

Artemis II: A Canadian heads to the dark side of the moon

April 1, 2026·29 min·1 clip

Jeremy Hansen is the first non-American to go to the moon, and Artemis II could be the farthest any human has gone into space.

The episode starts with a trailer-style tease. From there, it settles into a clear explanation of Artemis II and why the mission gives the story a human face through Jeremy Hansen. The stakes are straightforward. The episode says this is the first time humans have gone to the moon since 1972, even though the astronauts will not land, and it frames the flight as the farthest any human has gone into space. That point lands. The far side of the moon becomes the main visual hook, with the episode explaining that the crew will study a place very few humans have seen with their own eyes and may spot parts of the moon under lighting conditions that make the view especially striking. The timeline is messy. Artemis II was first expected in 2024, then moved to 2026 after an unexpected problem with Artemis I, the first mission with no human crew, forced NASA to slow down and reset. Then came more delay. The episode walks through the early-February target that slipped after a dress rehearsal exposed hydrogen leaks during fueling and a simulated countdown. That leak matters. John Honeycutt's explanation makes the technical risk easy to grasp, describing hydrogen as small, energetic, and eager to find any opening, which is why even a single seal in a hose can become a mission-level problem. The fix did not end the story. After the seal was repaired and retested, the team thought March might work, only for another issue to surface and push the mission back again. So the episode stays with the process. It keeps the listener focused on how a launch program actually behaves when the hardware, fueling, and rehearsal systems all have to line up at once. The tone is measured. Even when the material is dramatic, the show explains the stakes in ordinary language and treats the mission as a practical engineering story rather than a space-pageant. The human frame helps. By keeping Jeremy Hansen and the crew's role in view, the episode gives the mission a clear entry point without losing the broader NASA context. The reporting stays grounded. It invites curiosity without over-selling the moment, and it keeps returning to the question of what this mission would actually let humans see and do. The explanation is accessible. It gives enough technical detail to make the delays feel real, but it does not leave a general listener stranded in launch jargon. The pacing moves from scene-setting to context to consequence. That structure works well for a story like this, because the listener gets the mission, then the setbacks, then the reasons those setbacks mattered. The episode stays practical. It never treats the moon flight as pure spectacle, because the real tension comes from whether the team can make the hardware, timing, and conditions line up. It also keeps the human frame visible. A crew member heading into a mission that could reach farther than any human has gone into space gives the story a clean entry point without narrowing it to national pride alone. The result is serious and easy to follow. It is a space explainer that understands the appeal of the mission while still respecting the complexity underneath it. The close focus on the far side of the moon gives the episode a strong visual idea. The repeated delays give it a clear narrative arc. Together, they make the mission feel less like a press release and more like a real engineering test with a lot riding on it.

As heard by us

A clear Artemis II explainer that keeps the mission's stakes in view.

Artemis II is a clean, high-stakes package about NASA's next crewed moon mission. It keeps the focus on what matters: the first human trip to the moon since 1972, a four-person crew going farther than any human has traveled in space, and a flyby that puts the moon's far side at…

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

You want the Canadian angle on NASA's Artemis II moon mission.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

Listen to the show on

Apple Podcasts Spotify

Play clips from this episode More from The Decibel