Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen says getting humans to fly around the far side of the moon is good for humanity.

Speaking to reporters at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida as NASA rolled the Artemis II rocket to its launch pad, Hansen said he has been staring at the moon a lot more recently as the impending mission enters its final preparation stages with a potential launch window opening as soon as early February.

The 49-year-old astronaut from London, Ont., will serve as mission specialist during Artemis II, becoming the first non-American to travel beyond low Earth orbit, marking a historic achievement for Canada. 

The five-million-kilogram SLS rocket — the vehicle designed to launch the Orion spacecraft — is being transferred from NASA's vehicle-assembly building to the launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, about 6.5 kilometres away. The rollout was expected to take about 12 hours.

LONGUEUIL - Astronaut Jeremy Hansen is set to make history as the first Canadian to fly around the moon. The Canadian Space Agency is hoping this "once-in-a-generation" event is one that will inspire young people to dream big.

The impending Artemis II mission to the moon and back is in its final preparation stages with a potential launch window opening as soon as early February.

Hansen, 49, of London, Ont., will serve as mission specialist during Artemis II, becoming the first non-American to travel beyond low Earth orbit, a historic achievement for Canada. His crewmates are NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch. Artemis II will be the first crewed mission to the moon since 1972 — the year of the final Apollo mission.

"We believe this Artemis II mission for Canadians, it's a little bit of a once-in-a-generation mission … people will remember where they were when the launch happened and when the mission happened," Annie A.-Bélanger of the Canadian Space Agency said in a recent interview.

NASA has announced possible launch dates for the Artemis II mission, which will include Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen.

The agency has identified several roughly two-hour launch windows beginning Feb. 6 until the end of April.

The first crewed mission of the Artemis program is also the first journey to the moon by astronauts since 1972 — and Hansen’s first mission in space.

The 49-year-old Hansen, who is from London, Ont., would become the first non-American to travel beyond the low Earth orbit.

OTTAWA - Artificial Intelligence Minister Evan Solomon says Canada isn’t considering a ban of the social media platform X, though his office says discussions about X's deepfake controversy are underway.

The platform, which is owned by Elon Musk, has drawn global criticism over sexualized deepfakes created by X’s artificial intelligence chatbot Grok, which have proliferated in recent weeks.  

On Saturday, The Telegraph reported the U.K. government was gathering international support to respond to the controversy, with Canada sharing U.K. Prime Minister Kier Starmer’s concerns.

Regulator Ofcom is investigating, which could lead to X facing a ban in the U.K.