ESA New UK Astronaut: Tim Peake

Tim Peake, a former British Army Air Corps helicopter pilot, has been chosen to visit the International Space Station in November or December 2015. 

The 41-year-old is expected to spend six months aboard the ISS which is orbiting 390km above the Earth. 

Peake isn't the first Briton to go into space, but he's been described as the first "official" British astronaut. Sheffield-born chemist Helen Sharman secured private funding to fly to the Mir space station in 1991, reports the Daily Telegraph.

Three other British-born astronauts - Michael Foale, Piers Sellers and Nicholas Patrick – flew into space under the American flag. Peake will be making his trip under the Union flag.

His selection for the 2015 mission is the result of increased investment by the UK Space Agency in Europe's space programme, including a £16 million contribution to the ISS.



Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield set a new benchmark for engaging an Earth-bound audience from space using social media. His version of David Bowie's Space Oddity - recorded on the ISS – was an instant hit with the 770,000 people who follow him on Twitter. Says Peake: "I do play the guitar – very badly – and I wouldn't inflict my singing on anyone."

Peake, along with his Russian and American colleagues, lived in a cave in Sardinia for two weeks to get used to living and co-operating in cramped conditions.

"The cave environment is great because you've got high levels of isolation," he told the Royal Aeronautical Society's website. "It takes about eight hours just to get to the base camp in the caves and there is lots of vertical ascent and descent."

Although he's the wrong side of 40, Peake says he's yet to, erm, reach his peak. "The average age of an astronaut is quite high, it's up in the high 40s if not low 50s, because you have to attain so much experience before being selected and then the training takes so long," he told reporters.

In Space Oddity, David Bowie sings the plaintive line: "Tell my wife I love her very much…" Peake says his biggest worry is being away from his wife and two sons, aged four and 18 months.

"Over those six months in space, I will be in no position to provide them with any help or support," he told reporters. "That is my greatest apprehension."