First British Astronaut Tim Peake Makes Space History Dec. 15

Summary: First British astronaut Tim Peake makes space history after liftoff Dec. 15, in a Russian Soyuz spaceship destined for the International Space Station.

Garbed in a training version of his Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) spacesuit, European Space Agency and first British astronaut Tim Peake awaits a spacewalk training session in the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory (NBL) near NASA’s Johnson Space Center, 13 Dec. 2013: James Blair/NASA, Public Domain, via NASA

A Russian Soyuz TMA-19M spaceship heading for the International Space Station makes space history after liftoff at 11:03 Greenwich Mean Time on Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2015, with first British astronaut Tim Peake among its three-man international crew.

Minutes after liftoff, Prime Minister David Cameron sends a video message: “Tim, I know you have been dreaming of this day for a long time and we will be with you for every step of the way, watching with admiration and wonder. So on behalf of everyone in Britain let me wish you the very best of luck. You are doing us all proud.”

While Peake is marking milestones in the air, he will not be missing out on all of the milestones occurring below on Earth. For starters, he and his two Soyuz companions are looking forward to watching possibly the biggest film of all time, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, soon after settling into their new home in space.

The world’s first and largest operational space launch facility, Baikonur Cosmodrome in the desert steppe of Kazakhstan, hosts Peake’s historic sendoff into space history. The six-hour journey logs a distance roughly equivalent to traveling from London to Scarborough, as the International Space Station maintains an orbit at about 250 miles (402 kilometers) above the Earth’s surface.

Each astronaut is allowed to select three pieces of music for the pre-blast off playlist. Peake’s mood-setting choices are Coldplay’s “A Sky Full of Stars,” Queen’s “Don’t Stop Me Now,” and U2’s “Beautiful Day.”

Soyuz companions during the six-hour journey to the International Space Station are former Russian Air Force pilot Yuri Malenchenko and NASA astronaut Timothy Kopra. Among Malenchenko’s achievements is the first-marriage-in-space milestone, occurring on Aug. 10, 2003, with the Russian cosmonaut on the space station over New Zealand and his bride, Ekaterina Dmitrieva, walking down an auditorium aisle at NASA’s Johnson Space Center.

Peake’s European Space Agency mission is named Principia after Sir Isaac Newton’s monumental work describing the laws of gravity, Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica. During his 173-day space mission, the West Sussex native will be conducting 265 experiments, including 23 on himself concerning the impact of space flight on the human body.

Former British Army Air Corps officer Timothy Nigel Peake was born in the cathedral city of Chichester in South-East England on April 7, 1982. His application for the European Space Agency’s first astronaut programme was one of 8,000.

Although Peake is the first British astronaut, he is not the first British space traveler. That honor goes to Helen Patricia Sharman. The British chemist marked double milestones as first Briton in space and first woman to visit the Mir space station. Sharman’s space mission lasted for eight days, from May 18 to May 26, 1991, and focused on agricultural and medical tests, photographs of the British Isles and amateur radio hookups with British schoolchildren.

After 19M’s arrival at the space station around 5 p.m. Greenwich Mean Time, docking and hatch opening procedures take an additional 90 minutes. At around 7 p.m. a press conference is slated for beaming from the space station.

Tim’s wife, Rebecca, who will wait on firm ground, along with the couple’s two children, four-year-old Oliver and seven-year-old Thomas, until Tim’s return to Earth in May 2016, says of the historic liftoff: “This has been a long wait, it’s just fab to get to this point.”

From his comfortable perch on the shoulders of his grandfather, Rebecca’s father, Oliver wails a heart-tugging goodbye to his history-making father, first British astronaut Tim Peake: “I want to go with Daddy!”

Soyuz TMA-19M transports first British astronaut Tim Peake, Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko and NASA astronaut Timothy Kopra to the International Space Station: Scott Kelly‏ @StationCDRKelly via Twitter Dec. 15, 2015: Scott Kelly @StationCDRKelly via Twitter Dec. 15, 2015

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Timothy Peake: James Blair/NASA, Public Domain, via NASA @ https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/european-space-agency-astronaut-timothy-peake-0

Soyuz TMA-19M transports first British astronaut Tim Peake, Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko and NASA astronaut Timothy Kopra to the International Space Station: Scott Kelly‏ @StationCDRKelly via Twitter Dec. 15, 2015, @ https://twitter.com/StationCDRKelly/status/676727939627671552

For further information:

Chester, Tim. "Rocket Man: Britain sends its first astronaut to the ISS." Mashable. Dec. 15, 2015.
Available @ http://mashable.com/2015/12/15/tim-peake-iss-astronaut/#LBpIkRsSSkqn

Knapton, Sarah, and Roland Oliphant. "Tim Peake launch: Britain's first official astronaut enters International Space Station." The Telegraph > News > Science > Space. Dec. 15, 2015.
Available @ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/space/12050401/Tim-Peake-launch-British-astronaut-blasts-off-towards-International-Space-Station-live.html

Scott Kelly‏ @StationCDRKelly. "#Soyuz blasts through the atmosphere on its way to @Space_Station! #SoyuzTMA19M #soyuzlaunch #YearInSpace." Twitter. Dec. 15, 2015.
Available @ https://twitter.com/StationCDRKelly/status/676727939627671552

Stanton, Jenny, Emma Glanfield and Ben Spencer. "'I'm more worried about him driving on the M27': British astronaut Major Tim's father has no fears about his son blasting into space ahead of tomorrow's launch." The Daily Mail > News. Dec. 13, 2013.
Available @ http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3358062/British-astronaut-Tim-Peake-reveals-blast-playlist-spend-moments-Earth-listening-Coldplay.html