Astronaut Tim Peake has revealed the ‘toughest moment’ of his career was waving goodbye to his two children and wife ahead of his flight to space.
The former Army Air Corps officer, 48, from Hampshire, appeared on Lorraine today alongside his wife Rebecca where he spoke of the moments ahead of his International Space Station visit in 2015.
He told that while he was exhilarated to be at the ‘pinnacle of his career’ – he hoped that it would not be the last time he saw his wife and two children, Oliver and Thomas.
Astronaut Tim Peake says the ‘toughest moment’ of his career was waving goodbye to his two children Oliver and Thomas, and wife Rebecca ahead of his flight to space in 2015
The former Army Air Corps officer, 48, from Hampshire, appeared on Lorraine today alongside his wife Rebecca where he spoke of the moments ahead of his International Space Station visit
‘That was the toughest moment in my life right there. You’re on a bus, you’re full of adrenaline and excitement, all the training for your mission, it’s the pinnacle of your professional career.
‘But there you are, in front of your family and two young boys. At the bottom of your heart thinking, “please don’t let this be the last time I see you, and that I come back and we can carry on as a normal family”.’
Tim was the first British European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut to visit the International Space Station, launching on a Soyuz rocket on 15 December 2015 with crewmates Tim Kopra and Yuri Malenchenko.
He spent six months in space, and in his first month, Tim conducted a spacewalk to repair the Station’s power supply.
Tim was the first British European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut to visit the International Space Station, launching on a Soyuz rocket on 15 December 2015
Ahead of his trip to space, Tim wrote letters to his wife and children in case he did not return, but says he’s happy to have come back safely and ‘destroyed’ the messages to his family.
‘I didn’t keep them,’ he said, ‘I came back safely and destroyed them, but I hoped they would give them comfort and support and some understanding of what I do and who I am.’
The pair met when Rebecca was a junior officer in Germany, and she admitted that while she does get ‘anxious’ when her husband goes on dangerous trips to space, she has always been ‘determined’ to look back on that period of their life with ‘fond memories’.
She said: ‘I was determined it would be a really positive experience and it would be something we enjoyed and looked back on with really fond memories.
‘Naturally as a partner and parent you will have anxiety, because it’s a risky activity, so you can’t not have anxiety’
Tim has penned new autobiography Limitless, and told host Lorraine Kelly (pictured) that he wanted to tell the story of how he became a successful astronaut
Rebecca admitted that while she does get ‘anxious’ when her husband goes on dangerous trips to space, she has always been ‘determined’ to look back on that period of their life with ‘fond memories’
Tim has penned new autobiography Limitless, and said that he wanted to explain the background to becoming an astronaut.
‘I thought it was time to tell the story,’ he said, ‘I get asked a lot what life is like as an astronaut, but there is a whole story about what it takes to become an astronaut .’
The father has previously said he hopes to embark on a second mission to space and become the first British person to set foot on the moon.
When asked about the potential mission, he said: ‘I have my arm high in the air, the moon has been the next step for many years and hopefully next year we can see a mission – why not? Let’s get a union flag out there.’
Rebecca insisted that she would be happy for her husband to take part in the mission, and that her two children ‘don’t know anything different’.
The father has previously said he hopes to embark on a second mission to space and become the first British person to set foot on the moon
‘He’s very good at it, he’s passionate about it. We’d have to talk to the boys about it, but there also aware this is all he’s ever done in his life, they don’t know anything different.’
The former army Major previously said upcoming NASA missions to the moon would first only involve Americans, but that future journeys could see British astronauts participate.
‘The European Space Agency built the service module which is going to take the Orion spacecraft back to the moon.
‘We won’t probably have Europeans in the first return to the moon, that’s likely to be two Americans – a male and a female.
‘But subsequently, yes. We will have Europeans, at some point, will be part of those missions. So who knows… I mean, my name is still in the frame and I hope to have a second mission. We’ll have to wait and see.’