Special guests included world paratriathlete champion, Lauren Steadman and Dr Jon Scott from the European Astronaut Centre explained some of the challenges of exercising both on space and on Earth.
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This could be anything from taking spacewalks (amazing) to fixing the 15-year-old super-suction toilets (not so amazing).
Russian crew commander Yuri Malenchenko and American Nasa astronaut Tim Kopra will accompany him in the capsule.
It is now in a vertical position on launch pad number one at the Baikonur Cosmodrome – the same site where Yuri Gagarin blasted off to become the first human in space. “That’s far more unsafe, believe me”.
We should hear from Tim when he speaks from on board for the very first time, as his friends and colleagues celebrate back home.
Sandringham School has also been invited to take part in a “space race” – to stride, swim, scoot and spin the 400km distance from the International Space Station to Earth.
Speaking at a press conference in London last month, Major Peake said: “On launch day, of course there’s going to be some apprehension. The docking needs to be closely monitored and you have to make sure you’re on target and on speed”.
The crew’s mission is titled Principia, after Isaac Newton’s ground-breaking Naturalis Principia Mathematica, which describes the principal laws of motion and gravity.
The book was given to Peake by Helen Sharman, who became the first Briton in space when she visited the Mir space station in 1991. Her trip was privately funded by Project Juno, a consortium involving the former USSR and British companies.
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Peake’s playlist won’t be the only form of entertainment on board the International Space Station during the six-month trip, however. He has revealed that he is planning to take two watches into orbit with him, which he will then give to his young sons Thomas, six, and Oliver, four, when they turn 18. The family will have a final private moment with Peake – still under quarantine rules – about two hours before the 11.03am launch, prior to the crew departing by bus from the “suiting up” building.
