When I grow up I want to be … you
British astronaut Tim Peake meets Callum Milligan, five, during a visit to the Glasgow Science Centre yesterday, where he gave an insight into his mission aboard the International Space Station to a captive audience
British astronaut Tim Peake has given an insight into his mission aboard the International Space Station to an audience in Glasgow – including how he coped with drinking recycled urine.
Fans welcomed him to Glasgow Science Centre for yesterday’s event, which was broadcast to screens throughout the building after tickets sold out in just 23 minutes.
He spoke of his six-month Principia mission, detailing his nerves while waiting with his fellow crew members for 45 minutes on top of a massive amount of rocket fuel waiting for blast off in Kazakhstan. And he revealed how they calmed down by listening to Queen, Coldplay and U2 – before the traditional finale of Europe’s Final Countdown.
He said people always asked him about the toilet facilities, adding that 85 per cent of the astronauts’ urine is recycled.
He said: “Yesterday’s pee is this morning’s coffee basically, but actually it tastes absolutely fine. The drinking water on the space station tastes great but it does go through a fairly rapid recycling process.”
He also told of becoming the first UK astronaut to go on a spacewalk, saying one of the most memorable moments of his life was leaving the airlock and “dangling down over this black abyss”.
Mr Peake also detailed the toll being in space takes on the human body, revealing it ages the cardiovascular system by 20 years.