Major Tim Peake, British astronaut on-board ISS, talks of Moon Colony

Major Tim Peake, the British astronaut who is right now a member of the ISS squad, had joined the European Space Agency in 2009 after retiring as a helicopter test pilot in the British Army. He has suggested that setting up a "Moon colony" could be the next logical step for space research.
This has been reported in news.sky.com dated 30 March 2016.

In his first live television interview after blasting off from Earth, Major Tim Peake answered a number of questions submitted by Sky News viewers. On the question of the possibility of establishing a permanent base on the Moon, he has suggested that it was a "great ambition" since the experience gained could be used to learn more about traveling to the Red Planet Mars.
He also elaborated on investigation into the challenges that Man would have to face in terms of radiation exposure, (and) energy production - and the Moon is a wonderful place to set up a location for research. Study of the Moon could help us plenty about the origins of our own planet and Moon should be considered as a stepping stone to Mars in the future.
About life on the International Space Station (ISS) he has revealed that the scientists are engaged in 12 to 14 hour days to carry out more than 250 experiments. The results of these experiments would ultimately be of benefit to people back on planet Earth. Some of that research is on how the ageing process affects bone density and muscle loss. It is also investigating why viruses are more virulent in a micro-gravity environment.
Major Tim Peake will spend a total of six months before returning to Earth. Up in the ISS, he misses a few things - like fresh air and being outdoors, but also the color green. The green color is absent on the Space Station.


Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org

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British astronaut Major Tim Peake to go for a six and half hour spacewalk out of the ISS

#spacewalk #astronauts #timpeake British astronaut 43-year-old Major Tim Peake is going for a six hour spacewalk out the International Space Station - it will be the first ever spacewalk by a Britisher. His task is to repair a faulty power unit and, along with him would be Tim Kopra. They will face a race against the clock to conduct the repair in brief moments of darkness as the space station hurtles around the Earth.
This has been reported in dailymail.co.uk dated 15 January 2016.

Major Peake is an astronaut of the European Space Agency and Britain's first official astronaut on the ISS. He and Flight Engineer Kopra will have just 31 minute windows to install a new sequential shunt unit in total darkness outside the ISS.
Once outside the ISS, they will be hurtling at 17,227mph above the surface of the Earth. It takes 93 minutes for the ISS to orbit Earth once, therefore, the astronauts would get to experience 16 sunrises and 16 sunsets every day. The spacewalk, in scientific terms, is known as Extravehicular Activities (EVAs) and, Major Peake has revealed that among the tools that they will take with them outside ISS to help install the new power unit is a modified toothbrush to help clean the connections.
Major Peake and Flight Engineer Kopra would be spending nearly six and a half hours outside the ISS during the EVA. Even though the repair of the power unit is expected to take around 15 minutes if all goes smoothly, they will spend the rest of the time laying new power cables and doing other work outside the ISS. All the necessary tools are either clipped onto their spacesuit’s ‘Mini Work-Station’ or stowed inside tool bags in the order that they would be needed.

(Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org

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