Astronaut Jeremy Hansen's Wife, Catherine, Sent Clear Message of Support
Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen, is married to a doctor who has spoken in depth about being an astronaut's wife.
Catherine Hansen, his wife, is "an accomplished obstetrician-gynecologist" who "met her husband in Moose Jaw, Sask., when she went to watch her brother get his Air Force pilot wings. Jeremy Hansen told her right away he planned to be an astronaut," according to an interview she came to the Times Colonist.
Jeremy Hansen is a member of the four-person crew on the Artemis II lunar mission. He is the only member from Canada. They are traveling farther than any human being has ever traveled from Earth.
"When that rocket lights, I can't even imagine the fear, anxiety," Catherine told ABC 7 Chicago. "When that rocket lights, until it gets to a safe engine cut off, I don't know how I'm going to feel." His family uses the phrase, "I love you to the moon and back," Hansen's daughter said during that broadcast. Catherine and the daughter both sent a signal of support and love for Hansen; they both wear moon necklaces.
Jeremy Hansen's Wife, Catherine Hansen, Initially Thought It Sounded 'Crazy' That Jeremy Wanted to Be an Astronaut
(Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Catherine recalled to the Times Colonist that she initially thought Jeremy's astronaut dreams were "crazy."
She thought at first that it was "a crazy thing to say out loud," but then felt "if he's saying it out loud, he must really mean it," the newspaper reported, adding that, when she realized he was serious, she determined to help him achieve his dream.
"And as I got to know him, even over that day, weeks, months later, I realized he meant every word of it," she told the Times Colonist. "And we were going to do everything we could to make it happen."
She added: "I cannot really explain to people how important it is to just lift each other up, and that's exactly what we've done. He's done that with my work and my business. I've done that with him and his work."
Jeremy Hansen Is Very Family-Oriented, His Wife Wrote
When the crew left, Catherine, "wrapped her arms around her children as her husband, standing behind a barricade in his bright orange spacesuit, said, 'I love you,' and flashed a thumbs-up," the Economic Times reported.
In 2014, Catherine opened up about being an astronaut's wife. "The vast majority of childcare falls to the spouse, and that would be the same whether I was male or female, because astronaut training is so intensive," she wrote in an essay for Canadian Geographic.
"Despite the fact that I have a very high maintenance job, I still have to be the one to be flexible. I’ve set my life up so I can be there for the children when he’s not, because his training requires him to be away. There are going to be more travel deployments as he gets closer to a mission assignment."
She described her husband's love of family in that interview. "Jeremy is a very family-oriented person, and everything we do with our family helps create that security and bonding. When he’s home — which maybe isn’t as much as we would like — he’s there for all of us, especially the kids," she wrote.
"I think in part he’s doing that as a way of preparing them for when he’s gone for six months at a time on the space station, which hopefully he will be at some point. That’s his dream. The kids will be prepared and know their father loves them and is coming back."