Briton given space station mission

9:24am Monday 20th May 2013 in National News Press Association 2013

British astronaut Tim Peake has been confirmed as one of the crew to join the International Space Station

A former helicopter pilot is to become the first British astronaut to visit the International Space Station (ISS), it has been confirmed.

Major Tim Peake, 41, will be the first UK astronaut in space for more than 20 years. He will live and work on the space station for six months.

Major Peake will carry out a science programme and take part in a European education initiative before and during his mission. He is one of six astronauts selected from more than 8,000 hopefuls. The flight is expected to take place in November 2015.

Maj Peake told a news conference at the Science Museum in London: "It really is a true privilege to be assigned to a long duration mission, it feels like a real high point in a long career in aviation.

"I am really grateful to my family, friends and professional colleagues who are supporting me as I prepare for the challenge that lies ahead. The mission to the International Space Station is going to be a wonderful opportunity, not just for Europe and European science but the UK as well."

In a jokey reference to David Bowie fan, Commander Chris Hadfield, he said: "I do play the guitar, but very badly, and I wouldn't inflict my singing on anybody." Cdr Hadfield, from Canada, was his country's first professional astronaut, and gained a legion of fans on the Soyuz space capsule mission to and from the ISS, by performing a cover of the Bowie classic, Space Oddity. He now has close to one million followers on Twitter.

Answering questions, Maj Peake praised Cdr Hadfield for the "fantastic job" he had done. "I don't think I'll be able to top the tweeting, but I will also be tweeting, to encourage a generation to take an interest in space."

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Briton given space station mission