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Major Tim Peake: I’ve left the capsule with the world’s worst hangover

Tim Peake after arriving back on earth from the International Space Station
NASA TV/PA Wire
Mark Blunden @_MarkBlunden
21 June 2016

Tim Peake has come back down to Earth with a bump — in the form of the “world’s worst hangover”.

The British astronaut says he has been plagued by dizziness and vertigo since returning from space on Saturday.

The symptoms are expected for anyone who has spent a sustained period of time in zero gravity.

Major Peake, 44, said: “You’re excited to be back, but you can’t fully enjoy the experience because, to be quite frank, you feel pretty terrible.

“It can only be described as something akin to the world’s worst hangover in terms of everything that is going on in your head.”

As he adjusted to life back on Earth, Major Peake said the biggest thing he would miss from his 186 days in space was the view from the International Space Station.

“The view of Earth is the biggest thing, and it is probably the thing that has the biggest impact on you, so it is quite natural that is the thing you will miss the most,” he told ITV News.

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Tim Peake lands back on Earth in dramatic style after 186-day mission

Tim Peake lands back on Earth in dramatic style after 186-day mission

Tim Peake blasts back to Earth at 22 times the speed of sound

Tim Peake blasts back to Earth at 22 times the speed of sound

During his 186 days on the ISS the father of two, a former helicopter test pilot, participated in more than 250 scientific experiments, performed a spacewalk, ran the London Marathon on a treadmill, and inspired more than a million schoolchildren with educational outreach activities.

His achievements earned him the Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George for “extraordinary service beyond our planet”.

On Saturday Major Peake and his crewmates — American Nasa astronaut Colonel Tim Kopra and Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko — made the trip back to Earth in a 6ft Soyuz space capsule. As they plunged through the atmosphere, friction on the craft’s forward-facing heat shield slowed its speed from 17,398mph to 514mph and raised the temperature to 1,600C.

The rapid deceleration pushed the crew back into their shock-absorbing seats with a force of up to 5 g — five times Earth’s gravity.

After a journey lasting less than an hour, the Soyuz TMA-19M descent module parachuted down to a remote spot on the vast Kazakh steppe.

Major Peake will now undergo tests at the European Space Agency’s base in Cologne, Germany, to see how his body adapted to living in space.

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