My next mission? Get pizza and a nice cold beer!
ASTRONAUT Tim Peake touched down after six months in space yesterday – and immediately said he was looking forward to pizza and a cold beer.
During his 186-day mission he orbited the world almost 3,000 times, took part in 250 experiments, performed a space walk and even ran a marathon on a treadmill.
But moments after he and his two fellow astronauts were pulled from their tiny, blackened space capsule, Major Peake, 44, seemed more concerned with things most of us take for granted.
Smiling in the bright sunshine of Kazakhstan, he said he was ‘truly elated’ to be back and added: ‘The smells on Earth are so strong.’
And his thoughts swiftly turned to food. Asked what he would like to eat, he replied: ‘I think I might be having some pizza later – and maybe a cold beer.’
Major Peake, from the UK, Timothy Kopra, from the US, and Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko were squeezed inside their Soyuz TMA-19M space capsule during the three-hour descent from the International Space Station.
Major Peake appeared unfazed as he was lifted out of the charred capsule and carried off in a chair by support crew – astronauts risk fainting if they try to stand too soon after returning from space.
Of the descent, he said: ‘It was incredible. Best ride I have been on ever.’
Major Peake, who has two sons with wife Rebecca, said it was ‘wonderful to be back’ after six months and that he was ‘looking forward to seeing the family’.