Major Peake blasted off into orbit on board the Soyuz space capsule on his way to becoming the first British astronaut to join the crew of the International Space Station (ISS). “We also got the moon rise which was a pleasure to see”.
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The trio will be squeezed into the “descent module” of a tiny Soyuz TMA space capsule only about seven feet long. Helen Sharman, a high achieving chemist from Sheffield, became the first British citizen in space after blasting into orbit in 1991 aboard a Soyuz rocket. Since NASA stopped its own launching vehicles, Soyuz rockets have been ferrying the astronauts to and from the space station during regular intervals.
“It’s really important that Tim is prepared to exercise on board the International Space Station (ISS)”, the University of Bath graduate told BBC Somerset.
Peake himself was relaxed ahead of his first voyage into space, talking about his expectations of a festive season aboad the ISS during a pre-flight news conference at the Cosmonaut Hotel in Baikonur on Monday.
“Today was better than I could have imagined. Everybody commented on how handsome it was”.
Miss Deakin, Head of School, said: “We are delighted to be taking part in the rocket science experiment”.
Major Tim Peake is a graduate of RAF Shawbury, where he learned to fly helicopters.
But he expected to speak to members of his family on Christmas Day, and was also looking forward to tucking into a Christmas Pudding sent to the space station in a supply delivery.
But for Tim Peake, Britain’s first official astronaut, they marked the culmination of six years of training for a historic space flight.
It is the most reliable space vehicle available at present – a monument to the evolving Russian ingenuity in space technology since sending the first human being, Uri Gagarin, into space.
“We hope that Major Peake’s work on the Space Station will serve as an inspiration to a new generation of scientists and engineers”.
A truly global endeavour, over 200 people from 15 countries have visited the unique microgravity laboratory that has hosted more than 1,700 research investigations from researchers in more than 80 countries.
Recent data has shown that some crew members on the ISS return to earth without losing muscle, bone and equally fit as when they left, he said.
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