Astronaut Tim Peake reunited with capsule after flight to the stars
Astronaut Tim Peake has been reunited with the capsule that brought him back to Earth after his six- month mission in space.
The Soyuz TMA- 19M descent module has gone on display at the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh along with the space suit Major Peake wore on his high- speed journey back from the International Space Station ( ISS).
The capsule, which bears scorch marks from its journey through the atmosphere, was the only part of the spacecraft to return to Earth. The transport landed on the steppes of Kazakhstan on 18 June, 2016.
Major Peake, 46, said seeing the module again had reminded him of his mission.
The married father-of-two said :“Every time I see it, it brings back huge memories of the mission, particularly when you see the condition of the spacecraft now. It evokes memories of there-entry and how punishing that was – 1500C and eight minutes as this thing was coming through the atmosphere. But on the whole it brings back memo - ries of the whole mission.
“The return journey is a dynamic event. There’ s an awful lot that happens in this spacecraft.
“We leave the space station about three hours before we actually re-enter the Earth’ s atmosphere and it has to do a de - orbit burn. It has to separate into three parts and then it has to go through about eight minutes of re- entry, and then of course the parachute has to open successfully and then land on the steppes of Kazakhstan, so there’s an awful lot goes on with the re- entry and landing.”
During his 186 days in space, Major Peake participated in more than 250 scientific experiments, ran the London Marathon in space and read the Cbeebies bedtime story to children on Earth.
He said one of the highlights of his Principia mission was carrying out a space walk to repair the station’s power supply together with Nasa astronaut Tim Kopra.
Major Peake,a former British Army Air Corps officer, said: “The whole mission is a wonderful privilege to be living and working in space.
“But one part for me that was the most special would be the spacewalk. To actually go outside the space station was an incredible feeling, in a space suit just looking down on Earth.”
Pupils from Dunipace Primary School in Falkirk took par tina question-and-answers es si on with Major Peake beside the capsule. Major Peake described how he watched Star Wars on the ISS. The capsule will be on display in Edinburgh until 4 August.