We’ve been trapped watching reruns for 50 years.

NASA has been operating sort of like Disney, churning out safe, familiar things: low-Earth orbit content, because the risk-reward ratio favored the status quo. But we’re pivoting with Artemis II. This is the moment we’re really going forward. By hitting 406,000 kilometers, it’s not just a remake of Apollo 11 for a TikTok audience; it’s the beginning of the next chapter of humanity’s history by going further than ever before.

On Earth, we’ve been trapped in a permanent bottle episode – that fixed film set where movies save money by never leaving one room. We’ve been so obsessed with what’s going on down here that we forget we’re just a speck in a broader universe. Seeing an “Earthrise” in 4K is the most existential zoom-out we can do. It’s remarkably difficult to maintain the fever pitch of our domestic and international squabbles when you realize we’re just an iridescent marble suspended in a cold, dark universe. This is an international ego death being imposed upon all of us.

Canada has a hand in writing this chapter, and it’s a masterclass in Canadian soft power. When Jeremy Hansen was up there, he said: “Pour faire de grandes choses, ça prend une grande équipe.” That isn’t just a nod to bilingualism; it’s a geopolitical flex. He’s the first astronaut en route to the moon to speak French. It’s a pointed reminder that it takes a great team to work hard while we’re so dysfunctional down here on Earth. While I’ve seen polling suggesting we’re ready to become part of the EU, we don’t need that. Canada is a co-pilot on the most significant mission in humanity’s history right now. We should start acting like it.

The mission is also about the “Lunar Gateway.” It’s going to be a gas station; a place to harvest fuel, water, and ice. It’s an asymmetric haul from Earth to Moon, then to Mars. Once that gateway is operational, the moon stops being the destination and becomes the infrastructure that makes the solar system commutable.

But to get to Mars, we’ve got to prove we can survive without the luxury of a quick U-turn. This distance is a stress test for life support, radiation shielding, and sanity. We’re learning to coexist in a reality where home is a three-day trek away. If humanity can master 500,000 kilometers, it’s no longer just a dream; it’s actually setting a course.

We’re hyper-fixated on the internal rot because we don’t have an external horizon. It makes our small squabbles seem very, very petty. Whether it’s culture, religion, or socioeconomic class, we need to focus on the bigger things.

Even the technical glitches remind us of our humanity. The crew used the first toilet that wasn’t a full suction cup model (it had some problems) and Microsoft Outlook even broke in deep space. The astronaut called Houston and said, “I’ve got two Outlooks open and they’re both not working.” He put in a support ticket with IT and they got it working. If they can do it from 500,000 kilometers, you can call up IT to get your computer working, too.

Amidst the milestones, there was raw human grief. The crew named a lunar crater “Carroll” after Commander Reid Wiseman’s late wife. And then there was the passing of the torch: a recorded message from the late Jim Lovell, the man who saved Apollo 13, saying, “Welcome to my old neighborhood.” To have that message received by Canada’s own Jeremy Hansen is a historical bridge. Apollo 13’s distance record stood until this lunar flyby in 2026.

This mission is a masterclass in what happens when we stop looking for “easy outs” and commit to the hard work of being remarkable. We can’t all go to the Moon, but we can all afford to look up. If we can manage the logistics of 406,000 kilometers of “Deep Black,” surely we can manage the logistics of our own backyard. It’s time Canada stops acting like background extras in a B-flick movie and start acting like the G7 nation Jeremy Hansen is showing the world we are.