Perkil8r Posted December 16, 2015 Share Posted December 16, 2015 Okay, I thought I would start this off. There will no doubt be loads of cool and interesting stuff to come from Tim Peake over the next six months. This is the place to post related content surrounding Major Tim Peake and the Principia mission. Big Al 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daz Type-R Posted December 16, 2015 Share Posted December 16, 2015 Nice one Mike, if anybody uses Twitter, following Tim Peake on Twitter is a great way to get info direct from space.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Perkil8r Posted December 16, 2015 Author Popular Post Share Posted December 16, 2015 Also he is on Facebook. My thoughts and ramblings thus far, starting with a brief background for those who do not already know: Major Tim Peake launched aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket yesterday 15th December 2015 at 11:03am GMT headed for a six month mission on the International Space Station (ISS). Tim is the first official British astronaut but not the first Briton in space. Helen Sharman became the first Briton into space in 1991 when she rode a Soyuz to the Russian space station "Mir". Helen's mission was 8 days long and was part of the Russian space program and funded by commercial sponsorship. Further spaceflights have been made by British born astronauts as follows: Michael Foale, Piers Sellers and Nicholas Patrick flew aboard NASA space shuttle missions. All three had to take on American citizenship in order to fly with NASA as part of their program. This leaves Tim Peake as the first true British astronaut. Tim's mission has been funded entirely by the UK space agency and Tim is flying under the ESA flag. My own thoughts: This is a great thing for the UK. It is well documented that investment in space exploration is very much worth while and provides a great return on investment. The Apollo missions of NASA in the 60's and 70's returned between $10 and $17 per $1 invested through spin off industries and so on. The considered usual return is around 10x investment. The UK space industry is currently worth in the region of £4bn per year and that is projected to rise to £40bn by 2020. The UK has some truly world leading scientists currently and schools such as the Long Eaton school are focusing heavily on the STEM subjects. (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) Sadly a lot of the manufacturing in the UK has now disappeared so we need to be investing in technology etc as that is where our skill set currently lies. Tim's mission I hope will inspire the school kids of today to follow studies in these key areas. The UK has too long ignored this area of science. We are world leaders in the research yet we have until now neglected to get up there and do stuff ourselves. The UK is currently contributing to the European Space Agency to the tune of something like £4bn total which runs out in 2 years time. Currently there are no plans to carry that on which I think is a mistake. We missed out on launching satellites ourselves by a few years by pulling the plug on funding research in 1971. We then had to pay France to launch our own satellites which we could have launched on our own had we continued to develop the damned rocket as planned! I am personally and "professionally" excited by Tim's mission. It has already given a real buzz to things around work. We had the Nottingham Post in all morning during the launch and today we had a 2 page spread as a result! We are taking part in the "Rocket Science" experiment which is a part of the mission and have a chance to skype with Tim too if we are chosen! I think this is a real positive time for the UK Space Agency, I just hope the powers that be sit up and take notice of all the positives that come from it and see the value. Werisit, +Bino-viewer, Tweedledee and 2 others 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tuckstar Posted December 17, 2015 Share Posted December 17, 2015 I was glad to see that they let the kids is my daughters school watch the launch, and all the kids have written letters to him. Good luck reading them. We even waved at him yesterday during that fleeting patch of clear as the iss past over. Great stuff. Johnnyaardvark and Tweedledee 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Al Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 Tim gets a spacewalk!!! http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-35236442?post_id=10153399103414700_10153874624319700#_=_ BAZ 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perkil8r Posted January 9, 2016 Author Share Posted January 9, 2016 I see Tim Peake is going to be the first Briton to perform a space walk when he replaces a failed voltage regulator on Friday 15th. Also I see stargazing live are following the mission for the 3 shows this coming week which comes as no real surprise. I must say I thought the media would have been more active about the mission than they have been. It's a real shame they aren't making more of it, it's an opportunity to inspire the next generation! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BAZ Posted January 10, 2016 Share Posted January 10, 2016 It's typical really, a big fanfare followed by no proper back up programs, very disappointing. He's doing well and I am sure proud of him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Al Posted January 11, 2016 Share Posted January 11, 2016 Don't worry, the press will be all over him like a bad rash come spacewalk day! Incidentally, did anyone watch the Royal institution Christmas lectures this year? Just catching up with them on iPlayer. Tim features quite a lot this year. I know it's for kids really, but I still find them entertaining. Always wanted to go when I was young, never got the chance... Alan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nelson Posted January 11, 2016 Share Posted January 11, 2016 Hi I watched all three lectures and found them quite entertaining as the talks and celebrities were intermingled with demonstrations, so it kept the audience, consisting mainly of youngsters, very involved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Al Posted January 15, 2016 Share Posted January 15, 2016 http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html This is Major Tim to Ground Control, I'm stepping through the door, And I'm floating in a most peculiar way, And the stars look very different today BAZ 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Bino-viewer Posted January 15, 2016 Share Posted January 15, 2016 Watching the live stream now on Nasa Tv. Amazing clear images from their helmet cameras....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BAZ Posted January 15, 2016 Share Posted January 15, 2016 I am so pleased for him, that's got to be the best experience ever. Arise Sir Tim Peake! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perkil8r Posted January 15, 2016 Author Share Posted January 15, 2016 Well that all got a bit tense! I'm glad it all ended well though. A couple of interesting quotes for the day I thought, The union flag has been there exploring all over the earth, now it's exploring space. And when Chris Hadfield said to school kids at Jodrell bank today that there has always been somebody living in space for the whole time the kids have been alive. Proud moment for UK Space and a very good point that makes you realise what a great achievement the human race has accomplished in the building and population of ISS. BAZ 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smithysteve Posted January 16, 2016 Share Posted January 16, 2016 Tim is Deffo made of the right stuff, he did a great job yesterday, very professional. He must have been grinning the whole time he was out there. It must be the pinnacle of human experience to do that! I watched the whole of the spacewalk and it amazed me that the outside of the ISS looked even more complicated than the inside! everything you looked at was so intricately made - an awful lot of thought has gone into the designs and manufacture of everything! Simply awesome! it is amazing that you can 'stream' and see what is happening on the ISS too. If they go back to the moon, it will look fantastic in HD etc. Unlike the old lunar footage! BAZ 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Al Posted January 17, 2016 Share Posted January 17, 2016 Changing subject slightly, just heard that one of the few other British born astronauts (and space walker) Piers Sellers has just been diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer . He's only 60. Alan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smithysteve Posted June 20, 2016 Share Posted June 20, 2016 Great news that Tim is back on terra firma in one piece although it must be difficult of adjust to earths gravity after weightlessness! http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-36519886 Werisit 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Al Posted June 20, 2016 Share Posted June 20, 2016 I did like his comment about "looking forward to putting on some weight" Alan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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