Tim Peake: UK astronaut set for space milestone
By Paul Rincon Science editor, BBC News website, Baikonur
UK astronaut Tim Peake is ready to make his landmark flight to the International Space Station (ISS).
On Tuesday, the former helicopter pilot will launch on a Russian Soyuz rocket at Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
He will be accompanied by crew members American Tim Kopra and Russian Yuri Malenchenko.
Once at the ISS, Mr Peake will begin a programme of experiments and educational activities designed to get young people interested in science.
Launch is set for 11:03 GMT from Site 1 at Baikonur, the pad where Yuri Gagarin made the first historic human spaceflight in 1961. The Soyuz space capsule is due to dock with the space station at 17:23 GMT.
Mr Peake is the first UK astronaut to fly under the banner of the European Space Agency (Esa).
Helen Sharman became the first British citizen to travel to space when she visited the space station Mir in 1991. Her mission came about through a co-operative venture between the Soviet government and British business.
Ms Sharman told BBC News: "Launch itself is a day that you want to get on with, because finally, you're getting to do what you've been trained to do for so long. I trained for 18 months, Tim Peake will have trained for six years by the time he flies."
The crew are placed in quarantine for two weeks before launch to ensure they do not become ill in space.
They woke up at 0200 GMT (0800 local time) for breakfast and after a farewell ceremony, they leave the cosmonaut hotel in Baikonur for medical tests.
After a break, they get into their white "Sokol" suits - which are worn during launch and re-entry - before saying final farewells to their families.
Then, at about 0800 GMT (1400 local time), the crew board a bus to the launch pad and ride the lift to the top of the Soyuz rocket. Mr Peake and his colleagues will then be strapped into their seats so that they can prepare for launch.
Ms Sharman explained. "You're part of a great big machine… by that stage, the team is so big - the doctors, the trainers - that you're not going to be able to go wrong."
At 11:03 GMT (17:03 local time), notwithstanding some unforeseen obstacle, the Soyuz launcher's five thruster units will ignite, blasting the astronauts into orbit for the six-hour journey to the ISS.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-34991335
Live on TV:
Stargazing Live
Blast Off Live: A Stargazing Special
10:30am - 11:15am BBC One
There’s a funny line in the billing information for this celebration of Tim Peake blasting off to the International Space Station, the first British astronaut to do so. Coming live from the Science Museum in London, Dara O Briain, Brian Cox and a bunch of schoolchildren are joined by “Chris Hadfield, the former commander of the ISS, and the man made famous for his rendition of Space Oddity.”
Read that again. This isn’t to insult Mr Hadfield’s skills on the guitar. His version of the classic David Bowie song – recorded while floating in a tin can far above the world – was a deserved viral sensation. But should this astronaut really be more famous for some light acoustic than, say, being an astronaut?
O Briain and his team will be doing their best to give some of the grandeur back to space travel, getting across the programme’s history of discovery, the unmatched international cooperation and the sheer spectacle of slipping the surly bonds of Earth etc.
At the launch itself from Kazahkstan, Peake will have a camera pointed at his face throughout the extreme G-forces. Perfect. It’s space travel for the selfie generation.
About this programme
Professor Brian Cox and Dara O Briain follow the launch of astronaut Tim Peake as he attempts to become the first Briton to serve on the International Space Station.
http://www.radiotimes.com/episode/dwgs6s/stargazing-live--blast-off-live-a-stargazing-special