'Over the moon': U of T celebrates historic Artemis II mission

One small room at the University of Toronto, one giant moment for Canada.

Stargazers huddled around a screen at the Gerstein Science Information Centre last week to count down as the Artemis II mission took off for the moon – carrying the first Canadian to venture beyond low Earth orbit.

The lunar flyby itself is scheduled to happen today.

The watch party – organized by Let's Talk Science, the STEAM Sisters, Melon D'Oh La La and U of T Libraries – drew a full house and widespread news coverage. The Toronto Star reported that “ooh’s” and “ah’s” broke out at rocket separation before applause as NASA confirmed all four astronauts had successfully reached space. Among them was mission specialist Jeremy Hansen – the first Canadian, and first non-American, to travel beyond low Earth orbit. Fellow Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jenni Sidey-Gibbons served as CAPCOM, the voice connecting the crew to Mission Control on Earth.

Sandhya and Swapna Mylabathula, the twin science communicators behind the STEAM Sisters, organized the event to bring the U of T community together around the historic mission.

“Personally, I want to be an astronaut one day, so this is very exciting. I am over the moon with excitement,” Sandhya, a PhD graduate and course instructor in the Faculty of Kinesiology & Physical Education, told CP24.

Watch a video about the launch party at CP24

Read more at the Toronto Star