— The first non-American to fly to the moon has announced he is retiring from the Canadian Space Agency (CSA).

Jeremy Hansen, who in April flew as as mission specialist on NASA's Artemis II lunar flyby mission, will leave his full-time career as an astronaut in September.

"Today, I am sharing a significant next step in my journey," Hansen posted to his social media accounts on Monday (July 6). "After 32 years of military service and 17 years as a Canadian Space Agency astronaut — culminating in the incredible privilege of flying around the moon on Artemis II — I will be transitioning from my full-time role at the CSA."

Hansen is also changing his service as a colonel in the Royal Canadian Air Force to becoming a reservist.

"This unique position is a deliberate launchpad designed to leave the door open for creative, ongoing ways to support and enable the vital work happening in Canada with respect to space, and I'm excited for the new challenges it will bring," he wrote.

Hansen was assigned by the Air Force to the CSA after his selection through Canada's 2009 astronaut recruitment campaign. Before joining the corps, he served as a CF-18 fighter pilot with 441 Tactical Fighter Squadron and 409 Tactical Fighter Squadron, and as a Combat Operations Officer at 4 Wing Operations.

As an astronaut, Hansen took part in the European Space Agency's CAVES (Cooperative Adventure for Valuing and Exercising Human Behavior and Performance Skills) program in 2013, during which he lived underground for six days, and was on NASA's 2014 NEEMO 19 crew where he lived and worked on the ocean floor in the Aquarius habitat for seven days.

In 2017, Hansen became the first Canadian to lead a NASA astronaut class, training astronauts from the United States and Canada. In 2023, he was assigned to Artemis II, the first crewed mission in more than 50 years to fly to the moon.

From April 1 to 10, Hansen and his three NASA crewmates travelled around the moon and back aboard the Orion spacecraft Integrity. They reached farther beyond Earth than any humans in history and were the first to see parts of the moon's far side with their own eyes.

As the first Canadian to take part in a lunar mission, Hansen took the first maple creme cookies and maple syrup to the moon's vicinity.

"Jeremy Hansen brought Canadians closer to the moon and helped place Canada's role in human space exploration on the world stage. This achievement reflected decades of Canadian vision, ingenuity and investment in space, and affirmed Canada's role as a trusted partner in the next chapter of human space exploration," read a statement issued by the Canadian Space Agency.

With Hansen's retirement from the corps, the CSA has three remaining active astronauts: David Saint-Jacques, who spent 204 days aboard the International Space Station from 2019 to 2020 and now is the deputy director of CSA's lunar exploration program; Jenni Gibbons, who backed up Hansen on Artemis II and will serve as lead CapCom in Mission Control for the Artemis iII mission; and Joshua Kutryk, who is set to launch to the ISS as a member of SpaceX's Crew-13 in September.

Since returning from the moon, Hansen has met with Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney (who gifted him and his crewmates a coin struck to honor Hansen's mission) and delivered public talks to Canadians across the country. He also threw out the ceremonial first pitch at a Toronto Blue Jays baseball game and was celebrated by the popular Canadian coffee chain Tim Hortons with the temporary renaming of Timbits to "Moonbits" in his hometown of London, Ontario.

"Throughout his career, Colonel Hansen has carried forward the legacy of Canadian pioneers like Marc Garneau, Roberta Bondar and Chris Hadfield," said Carney in a statement. "Like those who came before him, Colonel Hansen united millions of Canadians around a single mission and pushed the boundaries of what we believed was possible. In doing so, he reminded us of what Canadians can achieve when we take risks and work together to make the greatest country in the world even better."

Hansen said he did not consider his upcoming move as a departure.

"Our future depends on a fierce continuation of Canadian innovation and exploration in space. The technological breakthroughs and economic benefits born from this sector are vital for our country and the world, and I am as determined as ever to push that work forward," he said. "The mission continues."