Astronaut Visits: Tim Peake and Chris Hadfield
- 19th Oct 2016
- Author: Tamela Maciel
Astronauts are sometimes like buses. When they arrive, they arrive all at once. Not that we’re complaining!
Last week we had not one but two astronauts step through our doors – British ESA astronaut Tim Peake and Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield. Here are our favourite moments and photographs from their visits.
Tim Peake - "It was just wonderful to be outside in space with this big space station above me"
On 14 October 2016 we were delighted to welcome British European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Tim Peake to Leicester as the second stop of his post-flight tour around the UK.
Tim spent six months in space from December 2015 to June 2016 as Britain’s first ESA astronaut (Helen Sharman was the first Brit in space, but her flight was privately funded). During his mission, Tim performed a space walk, ran the London marathon from space, helped conduct more than 250 microgravity science experiments, and engaged with over a million school children across the UK through his outreach projects.
Tim’s space walk in January 2016 was one of the key achievements of his mission. Before starting work, Tim had a few moments to enjoy the view of Earth from outside the ISS and described the magic feeling. “It was just wonderful to be outside in space with this big space station above me.”
When asked why he opted to run the London Marathon on top of the two hours of daily exercise that astronauts already have to do to stay healthy, Tim said it would have been a shame to waste all that training and not run something like a marathon! He’ll be in Houston for the 2017 London Marathon, but suggested a 2018 race could be on the cards.
As part of his post-flight tour, Tim also visited Cardiff, Manchester, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Belfast, and London.
Here are a few of our favourite pictures from Tim Peake’s visit:
Tim Peake Q&A
If you’d like to watch Tim Peake’s Q&A in full, check out our video of the event:
Chris Hadfield - '‘Impossible things happen. And they don’t just happen by accident."
Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield needs very little introduction. During his third and final mission in 2012-2013, Chris served as commander of the International Space Station, and on the side became a bit of a YouTube sensation with his rendition of David Bowie’s Space Oddity, described as the first music video to be recorded in space.
Inspired by watching Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin take those first steps on the Moon back in 1969, Chris trained as an air force pilot and was accepted as an astronaut with the Canadian Space Agency in 1992. Since then he has spent 166 days in space over three different missions and became the first Canadian to walk in space.
It was a delight to welcome Chris Hadfield back to the National Space Centre (perhaps you remember his last visit back in 2013?). Chris’ striking descriptions of launch, walking in space, and the ‘magic’ of life in microgravity allowed us all to live vicariously through his experiences for the afternoon.
But it wasn’t magic that brought Chris into space. “Impossible things happen,” he said. “And they don’t just happen by accident. It requires an audacious vision and a lot of work.”
My favourite moment was when Chris recalled an early mission and distractedly wondered, “Why does my face hurt?”, while busily flying the Space Shuttle. Later he realised that he was wearing such a big smile that his cheeks were cramping and knew he must be having fun.
Here are a few of our favourite pictures from Chris Hadfield’s visit:
