"This is Ground Control to Major Tim - congratulations on your selection as ESA’s first British astronaut to undertake a mission to the International Space Station (ISS) in 2015; you are cleared for takeoff!"
At a press conference in London this morning (Monday, 20 May) ESA Director General Jean-Jacques Dordain will officially name the first official British astronaut to undertake a space mission for 20 years.
Major Tim Peake, Britain's first ESA astronaut, became eligible for space missions in 2010 after completing more than a year of intensive training with the European Space Agency (ESA).
Peake, a former army helicopter test pilot from Chichester, England, was one of six other astronauts selected from across Europe in 2009.
The first place aboard a Russian Soyuz for launch this spring went to an Italian astronaut and it was widely expected that Britain’s astronaut would have to wait until 2017 for a ride into space.
Contemporary news, comment and travel from the Lighthouse Keeper, mostly compiled and written by freelance journalist Clive Simpson, along with occasional other contributors. Blog name is taken from a track on the album 'Hope' by Klaatu.
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