\n Tim Peake running the London Marathon in space\n<\/p>\n
\n Tim made history in 2015 as the first British astronaut to visit the International Space Station (ISS) – spending six months in space, completing a spacewalk, even running a marathon.\n<\/p>\n
\n His tour – Astronauts: The Quest To Explore Space – celebrates the work of astronauts and human spaceflight and gives a fascinating insight into what lies ahead. \u201cIt\u2019s like the greatest hits of space exploration, with amazing footage and behind the scenes stories of what it\u2019s really like to leave our planet,\u201d says Tim.\n<\/p>\n
\n Tim’s show celebrates the work of astronauts\n<\/p>\n
\n Tim\u2019s debut tour, My Journey To Space in 2021-2023, shared his personal story of space flight. Now he\u2019s looking back on the wider history of space exploration – with the shows featuring new content following this year\u2019s Artemis II flight.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cIt showcases the extraordinary endeavour of human spaceflight; the excitement, drama, the highs and lows, from the early days of the 1950s to the Artemis program to return to the Moon, and beyond to the first human mission to Mars,\u201d says Tim. \u201cI love going on tour because I can interact with people from a variety of backgrounds. I do a lot of talks but they\u2019re often with people linked to the space sector. The is a chance to meet the wider public. It still surprises me how interested people are in my story. I have to remind myself that going to space is still something that is very hard to do. Only 600 people have reached Earth\u2019s orbit, and fewer than half have done a spacewalk. The fact that I\u2019m one of them will never not be incredibly special to me.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n Taking his first breath of fresh air after his Principia space mission in 2016\n<\/p>\n
\n While the tour reflects on space stories from the past, Tim also focusses on future exploration. He\u2019s been closely linked with the Axiom Space and UK Space Agency project, supporting the US-based company\u2019s ambitions for an all-UK mission as part of its work in building a commercial space station as a replacement for the ISS.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cAxiom\u2019s work is hugely exciting with so many potential benefits for the UK,\u201d says Tim. \u201cAbsolutely I would love to go back to space if the chance came up; I don\u2019t know of any astronaut who wouldn\u2019t want another mission to space.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n Tim Peak waves from his space walk. His tour – Astronauts: The Quest To Explore Space – comes to Bradford this autumn\n<\/p>\n
\n The Axiom Space mission would be a commercially-sponsored space flight which Tim hopes will lead to further commercial partnerships and space sponsorship. \u201cSpace touches our lives in many ways, from climate monitoring, navigation and communications to financial transactions, agriculture, disaster response,\u201d he says. \u201cMost companies are reliant on some form of space-based technology today and there is huge scope for private investment. It\u2019s new territory, but we hope to make it work.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n Having recently marked the 10th anniversary of his own return from space, he\u2019s excited about what\u2019s next. \u201cSo much has happened, there is so much to be proud of in our UK space sector. We have companies doing cutting-edge work and driving forward what is possible. We now have three UK astronauts, Rosemary Coogan, Meganne Christian and John McFill all available for missions. When I joined ESA in 2009, the UK didn\u2019t even contribute to the human space programme – now I get to guide them through this incredible experience.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n Having retired from the ESA in 2023, Tim is enjoying new challenges. \u201cI had a dramatic career change before when I went from being a test pilot to astronaut training and it\u2019s been a similar shift in focus,\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019m an ambassador for The King\u2019s Trust, Scouts, STEM Learning, Great Ormond Street Hospital and King Charles\u2019 Astra Carta initiative, looking at how we can use space sustainably and responsibly.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cI\u2019ve enjoyed writing books, presented a documentary on the Secrets of Our Universe and co-hosted the 13-Minutes podcast for the BBC covering the Artemis 2 mission, as four astronauts went on an epic 10-day journey round the Moon.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cAs an astronaut, you don\u2019t ever retire. I\u2019ve been to events like the STARMUS Festival, where I had the privilege to meet several of the Apollo astronauts, from Charlie Duke to Buzz Aldrin. They\u2019re still out there promoting science, space and exploration and I hope I\u2019ll do the same for years to come.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n While a moonwalk is on the cards for the Artemis 4 crew as early as 2028, and work is ongoing towards a crewed mission to Mars, Tim says some work will have an impact closer to home in coming years. \u201cWe have occupied the ISS for nearly 25 years now – it\u2019s essentially a giant science lab,\u201d he says, about research taking place in orbit. \u201cThere are components in modern mobile phones which were first tested on the ISS. But we\u2019re getting more specialist in the science there now. There is more targeted pharmaceutical research as companies realise the potential available. For example, growing protein crystals in space for motor neurone and Parkinson\u2019s diseases could lead to much better treatments.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cWe\u2019re at the stage where space can become a manufacturing hub for all sorts of things, to be brought back to Earth. There are things you can build in space which can\u2019t be built on Earth. There are attempts to grow human tissue and organs on Earth, using bio ink and 3D printers. The problem is that small structures need some sort of scaffolding because gravity causes them to collapse. In space you can 3D print human organs because there\u2019s no gravity. It sounds like the wildest science fiction, but it really is science fact and it\u2019s where we are at right now. Five to 10 years we could be printing full-size human organs in space that could be a feasible transplant option. That\u2019s when space research starts to mean something very real for people on Earth.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n Some of the scientists and engineers coming through now were kids inspired by Tim\u2019s Principia mission. \u201cThe legacy I\u2019m most proud of is the inspiration for future generations,\u201d he says. \u201cWhen I go to schools and colleges, students say, \u2018I remember watching you launch and you inspired me to follow these subjects\u2019. It\u2019s a huge privilege to have a platform to inspire people. Space is a place where we can all wonder and dream.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n * Tim Peake – Astronauts: The Quest To Explore Space is at St George\u2019s Hall on September 26. Call (01274) 432000 or visit bradford-theatres.co.uk<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tim Peake running the London Marathon in space Tim made history in 2015 as the first British astronaut…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":736715,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[90,416,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-736714","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-space","tag-science","tag-space","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/736714","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=736714"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/736714\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/736715"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=736714"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=736714"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=736714"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}