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Tim Peake to return to Earth this weekend after 186 days in orbit

Tim Peake will see his family for the first time in six months
BBC
Mark Blunden @_MarkBlunden
16 June 2016

British astronaut Major Tim Peake is due to see his family for the first time in six months when he returns to earth this weekend.

On Saturday the ‘ordinary village lad’ is due to exit the International Space Station to land in Kazakhstan — and his parents today told of their excitement as he returns from the 250-mile-high orbit.

Major Peake’s wife, Rebecca, 42, and two sons Thomas, seven, and, Oliver, four, will be at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan for the landing, while his parents, Nigel and Angela, both 73, will watch from the European Space Agency’s headquarters in Darmstadt, Germany.

His father, a retired journalist, told the Standard they were ‘very excited’ but first Major Peake will enjoy some ‘quiet time’ catching up with his wife and boys before any parties.

Tim delivering a 'God save the Queen' message from space
European Space Agency/PA Wire

He said: “I spoke to Tim on Saturday. He’s really buoyed up. He has had a wonderful time with all the scientific and medical experiments, plus all his social media work with young people.

“He’s been phoning us quite regularly, once every week, and it comes up as ‘private caller’. I’d hoped it might be something good like ‘Galaxy One’ but the reception’s clearer than some of the landline calls we get.”

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But in one attempt to call his family at Christmas Major Peake dialled the wrong number in Chichester and apologised to the pensioner who picked up and heard him ask: “Hello, is this planet Earth?”

As part of the Principia mission, he has conducted experiments including how long space missions to Mars would affect the human brain and body.

During the mission he became the first person to complete the London marathon from space.

Tim completed the marathon in 3 hours and 35 minutes
EUROPEAN SPACE AGENCY (ESA) via AP

Major Peake, 43, who learned Russian for the mission, had video link-ups with schools and documented his progress on Twitter and Flickr, posting stunning aerial shots.

Asked how the parents felt about the dangers to their son in space, Mr Peake said: “We had 18 years of him in the Army, then he became a test pilot so we’ve almost got used to him being away from home for prolonged periods.”

Tim was sent food by Heston Blumenthal
Tim Peake/PA Wire

He added: “The message Tim always tells young people is, ‘Look, I am an ordinary village lad from West Sussex. I did this because I set my heart on it. If you’ve got a dream, just persevere, you can do it.’”

The Science Museum will host a free event on Saturday from 10am for live coverage of the landing, including an appearance by Helen Sharman, the first Briton in space.on’s identity in extremely noisy environments.

Back with a bump

 

Tim Peake can expect to feel like he is “hitting a wall in a fast car” when his space capsule plummets back to Earth in Kazakhstan, the former head of Nasa said today.

Major Peake will re-enter Earth’s atmosphere at more than 500mph, with the Russian Soyuz capsule deploying rocket thrusters to stabilise the landing, the method the Russians have relied on since the Sixties.

Ex-Nasa boss Dan Goldin, appointed by the first President Bush and in charge of 62 US shuttle lift-offs, gave one crucial piece of advice to Major Peake — don’t leave any belongings behind on the International Space Station. The British astronaut will leave the ISS with crewmates Tim Kopra, from America, and Yuri Malenchenko, from Russia, and in less than four hours will be back on Earth.

About three hours after the Soyuz has undocked from the ISS, the middle section containing the crew will break off. The crew will then will pass through the atmosphere at 1,600C — about a third hotter than lava — which will also burn up the two jettisoned sections.

At the start of re-entry, Major Peake is likely to suffer a condition known as entry motion sickness as he plummets back to Earth strapped into the Soyuz.Symptoms include headache, pallor sweating, dizziness, nausea and vomiting.

Mr Goldin said: “For Tim Peake,  the excitement will be building. It’s euphoric and such a privilege to be able to do this. My advice to him is enjoy that ride back, savour every minute.

“He’s going to want to make sure he’s got all his gear before he leaves.

“They’ll experience a very high  g-force, like shock force. It’s like going fast in a car and hitting a wall.

“The Soyuz lands pretty hard, it doesn’t have a soft landing like the shuttle. It comes down and they fire retro rockets. A team will be sent out to find the capsule and they literally will carry the astronauts back to the crew quarters.

“This mission is absolutely wonderful, England ought to celebrate this wonderful event  on Saturday.”

Dan Goldin was in London promoting his KnuEdge start-up  that invented voice authentication software capable of verifying a person’s identity in extremely  noisy environments.

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