There have been other UK-born astronauts, but they either held US citizenship or were privately funded.
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Peake will be Britain’s first astronaut to go to the International Space Station (ISS) and this will be his first mission.
(CNN) – Astronaut Tim Peake made history Tuesday, blasting off from a launchpad in Kazakhstan on his way to join the crew of the International Space Station.
In space, Peake will engage in a series of scientific experiments and educational activities, as well as work maintenance on the ISS.
“Tim is a fantastic astronaut”, said Libby Jackson, manager of the Astronaut Flight Education Program in the UK Space Agency.
Meet the soon-to-be newest residents of the International Space Station.
“I also hear a Christmas pudding went up on Orbital Four [a supply mission to the space station], so we’ll have some treats as well”.
At a press conference yesterday Major Peake told how he was eagerly looking forward to seeing the earth from his capsule in space.
“We’ll thankfully be able to give them a call on Christmas Day”.
The European Space Agency tweeted that fuelling has begun – filling the Russian rocket with 274 tonnes of fuel.
The Principia crew, Tim Peake, Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko and USA astronaut Tim Kopra, will get suited up before they’re taken to the launch pad. For Peake this will be a long time coming, as he was on the reserves list for a flight that took place earlier this year, and is said to have spent upwards of 6,000 hours training for this event.
A Russian rocket carrying British astronaut Tim Peake into space has blasted off from Kazakhstan in a spectacular display of fire and thunder.
ESA officials said three hundred tons of fuel was used to get the shuttle, which correctly broke-up during launch, was used to get the craft to orbit and that the weather had been ideal for the launch.
The launch was watched by Major Peake’s young children and his wife Rebecca.
He is due to dock at the ISS at 5.23pm which will be his home for the next six months.
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“It was really exciting watching the launch because I’ve never seen anything like it”.
