But a determined effort in the United Kingdom to rewrite history has seen this belated achievement inaccurately described as the launch of its first astronaut into space when the first Briton in space was in fact Helen Sharman, who was sent into orbit in a similar Russian spacecraft atop a similar Russian rocket to the Mir space station in 1991. Have a great mission.
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Previous “Brits in space” have either been United States citizens or had dual citizenship, or been on privately funded or sponsored trips.
Peake, 43, lifted off from Pad 1 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome — the same launchpad used by Sputnik, the first satellite, and Russia’s Yuri Gagarin, the first human in space — on board the Soyuz TMA-19M spacecraft.
With the former test pilot and British Army Air Corps officer are NASA astronaut Tim Kopra and Russian commander and cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko, both veterans of space flight who have previously worked on the ISS.
The British astronaut was preparing for one of the 265 experiments he is scheduled to complete during his six-month stay. “What an incredible ride to space yesterday – Soyuz felt so smooth & powerful”. The hatch was opened at 7.58pm, United Kingdom time.
Major Peake’s wife Rebecca was heard to say: “Wasn’t it an incredible sight?”
“All the personnel at RAF Shawbury wish him good luck for his six-month mission”.
“Today was better than I could have imagined”.
Major Tim Peake is a graduate of RAF Shawbury, where he learned to fly helicopters.
Ongoing research includes the “Microbial Payload Tracking Series” project which uses microbial analysis techniques to establish a census of the microorganisms living on surfaces and in the atmosphere of the space station.
Queen Elizabeth congratulated Peake on his achievement through the British Monarchy’s official Twitter page.
Her Majesty added that the “thoughts and prayers of the whole country are with him and the crew, especially at this time of year”. He made a video call to his family back on Earth.
Leading scientists from the RHS and European Space Agency will interpret the results and draw possible conclusions, publishing their results on the RHS Campaign for School Gardening website.
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