http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/science/article6326500.ece
The British pilot named by the European Space Agency (ESA) today as one of its six new astronauts said that his selection had come out of the blue but is a dream come true. Timothy Peake, a 37-year-old Apache helicopter pilot from the Army Air Corps, appeared in Paris along with five other recruits from other European countries. He was chosen for missions to the International Space Station "and one day to the Moon and beyond" after a gruelling selection process which attracted more than 8,400 people, said the ESA. Major Peake, who has a wife and four-month-old son, said that he only heard that he had been chosen when the European Space Agency telephoned him at home on Monday. "I was very surprised to be selected. My parents are as surprised as I am," he said. Slightly-built, of medium height and boyish, Major Peake, said the news was the fulfilment of a lifelong dream for a boy who had always been devoted to aviation and space. "Ever since I was a child I have been fascinated by flight," he told The Times in Paris. The hardest part of the gruelling year-long selection process had been the memory tests, he said. "I think that my wife wouldn't be surprised by that." Major Peake will be the first Briton to fly in space under the British flag. While four Britons have flown in space before, one joined a Russian mission with private funding, while the other three took US citizenship to fly on Nasa space shuttles. His selection by ESA is unusual because the UK has never funded manned space missions, preferring to concentrate investment on robotic probes. ESA has eight astronauts in its corps, from Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium and Sweden. The agency hopes that the astronauts will fly to the space station on Russian Soyuz launchers. They will also be eligible to join European or international missions to the Moon and Mars, should these go ahead. Major Peake paid tribute to his old school, the Chichester High School for Boys, and its Army Cadet Corps for encouraging him. "The corps was a huge inspiration," he said. His skills as a test pilot would set him in good stead for his expected six-month turn on the International Space Station. His experience as weekend potholer would also come in handy. "It shows I can handle confined spaces without a problem," he said. He acknowledged that he watched Star Trek, but said that he drew no special inspiration from the fictional space epic. Mayor Peake, who is quiet-spoken and favours the clipped phrases of military pilots, left the army at the beginning of this month after a career which included service in Northern Ireland and the Bosnian conflict in the 1990s. He recently visited Afghanistan to test fly British helicopters there. The major will have his first chance to fly in space in three and a half years from starting training near Cologne next September. At 37, he is the oldest of the six new trainees. The others are 32 or 33. Though Britain does not contribute to the finance of the ESA manned programme, it appears to be moving its priorities back towards the area, he said. Jean-Jacques Dordan, the chief of the ESA, said that Major Peake had been selected because he was one of the best of the 8,400 applicants. "We have chosen the top candidates -0- even if they are British," he joked. "We could not refuse a good one." However he hoped that Britain would soon join the manned flight programme, in which Germany, Italy and France are the main contributors. First British astronaut? Four Britons have previously taken part in space missions, but the latest recruit will be the first astronaut to fly officially under the Union Jack. In 1991 Helen Sharman became the first Briton in space, taking part in a Soviet mission to the Mir Space Station. Ms Sharman flew as a private individual backed by industry funding, rather than as a British astronaut. A year later, Michael Foale was the first Briton to complete a space walk, but had to become a US citizen to take part in Nasa's Space Shuttle Atlantis mission. Third was Piers Sellers who took part in a Nasa mission to the International Space Station in 2002 and returned to space in July 2006 onboard Atlantis. Sellers also took on US citizenship. In December 2006, Nicholas Patrick became the fourth British-born astronaut in space onboard a Space Shuttle Discovery mission to the ISS, again flying under the American flag. *********************************** * POST TO MEDIANEWS@ETSKYWARN.NET * *********************************** Medianews mailing list Medianews@etskywarn.net http://lists.etskywarn.net/mailman/listinfo/medianews
