Britain’s first astronaut in 24 years sent a message from space to Britain’s Queen Elizabeth on Monday (January 4), saying he hoped his mission would inspire others to change the world.
Former Apache military helicopter Tim Peake, 43, thanked the Queen for her message of best wishes which he received in December.
He described looking down on the British Isles from space as incredible and said he hoped to demonstrate the strength of international collaboration.
“Our islands and our nation are a special place to me and I hope that the next six months will demonstrate to everyone across the U.K. and Europe how international collaboration and brave endeavour can change our world for the better,” he said.
“I hope I can bring the country together to celebrate Britain in space and our great tradition of scientific exploration,” he added.
He also claimed to be the first person to say “God Save The Queen” in space.
Queen Elizabeth’s written message to Peake in December said she hoped Peake’s mission will serve as an inspiration to a new generation of scientists and engineers.
Peake is on a six-month mission for the European Space Agency (ESA) and is the first astronaut representing the British government and wearing a Union Jack flag on his arm. The first Briton in space was Helen Sharman, who travelled on a Soviet spacecraft for eight days in 1991.
The Briton, selected as an astronaut in 2009, launched from Russia’s Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on December 15, for the mission titled Principia after Isaac Newton’s ground-breaking Naturalis Principia Mathematica, which describes the principal laws of motion and gravity.
Britain originally opted out of the European program for human space flight but decided to reverse its decision in 2012.
The International Space Station contains an international crew of six people who live and work while traveling at a speed of five miles per second, orbiting Earth every 90 minutes.
It was launched in 1998 and has been continuously occupied since November 2000. In that time, more than 200 people from 15 countries have visited. (Reuters)
