COVER FEATURE : TIM PEAKE
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TIM PEAKE :
STEM helps young people to reach for the stars
In an exclusive interview , British astronaut Major Tim Peake talks space , STEM and becoming resilient in the face of change .
Interview : Mary Appleton Words : Sarah Wild
n December 2015 , European Space Agency ( ESA )
Soyuz TMA-19M spacecraft . Launching from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan ( the site of Russian launches since the dawn of the space age ), with two crewmates , he spent 186 days working on the International Space Station ( ISS ). He was the first British astronaut to be sent there .
His mission followed a
highly successful career as a military helicopter test pilot and British Army Air Corps officer , and was the culmination of six years of ( often gruelling ) training . This included living underground in a cave system for a week to test teamwork , behaviour and performance in extreme environments , and spending 12 days in NASA ’ s Aquarius habitat , 20 metres underwater off the coast of Florida , to develop techniques for a mission to an asteroid . In 2012 , Peake completed training for spacewalks with both Russian and US spacesuits .
He also had to undergo regular medical testing , such as frequent blood and urine tests , plus muscle biopsies . However ,
the biggest challenge was learning Russian , which is needed to operate the Soyuz rocket and the Russian parts of the ISS .
“ I love systems , I love diagrams , I ’ m not a natural linguist , and Russian for me has been particularly hard . It ’ s probably the part that I ’ ve found the toughest , and at times , the least enjoyable ,” he said at the time .
It ’ s important to be true to yourself and to enjoy the journey through life , perhaps not worrying so much about where it takes you
Maintenance and research
The mission itself was no intergalactic holiday , comprising a packed schedule of maintenance and science duties . Peake worked 14-hour days , undertaking a
spacewalk to repair the space station ’ s power supply , and conducting 250 experiments for ESA and international partners , including 30 tests on his own body .
After landing back on Earth on 18 June 2016 ( with a bit of a bump – astronauts often describe the landing as feeling like a ‘ car crash ’, particularly because their bones and muscles have weakened in space ), Peake endured physical and psychological testing for a further three weeks .
However , all the medical and scientific insights are just a part of his
legacy . The ambitious educational programme which accompanied his mission reflects his desire to “ inspire a new generation to look at science , to look at space , as an exciting career path , and to make choices that push them in that direction ”.
Today , a
suite of space resources is accessible to teachers and young people , including
The Principia Mission Space Diary , an interactive and empowering STEM learning programme . Here , Peake shares his advice for young people on the value of STEM , careers in the space industry and the importance of enjoying your career journey – rather than focusing on your eventual destination .
If you have a foundation in science and technology , engineering and mathematics , it will set you up well for the future
FIVE
FASCINATING FACTS
1
Peake ’ s mission is known as Principia after British scientist Sir Isaac Newton ’ s Naturalis Principia Mathematica , a threepart text describing the principal laws of motion and gravity .
2
Blue Peter , the world ’ s longest-running children ’ s television show , ran the competition to design Tim Peake ’ s mission patch .
3
The flight to the International Space
Station ( ISS ) took six hours , during which time the spacecraft needed to catch up with the ISS , which travels at more than 27,000 km / hour around the Earth .
4
5
He is the first person to be honoured while in space , being made a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George for “ extraordinary service beyond our planet ”.
Tim Peake …
On pursuing a career in the space industry
If you want to be an astronaut that ’ s a fantastic aspiration to have , and you ’ re also probably passionate about space and engineering and technology as well . Of course , not everybody will be an astronaut . I was selected from over 8,000 people and am extremely grateful and fortunate to have been chosen .
Not everybody is going to be able to fulfil that ambition , but I think what ’ s important is if you ’ re passionate about it , you ’ re probably passionate about working in the space industry , where there are absolutely thousands of career opportunities . On the diversity side , the female population of astronauts is growing ; NASA ’ s last couple of selection processes have resulted in 50 % women .
On enjoying your career journey — not just the destination
I ’ ve always taken an incremental approach to my career ; when I was seven or eight years old , I wasn ’ t looking to be an astronaut . I ’ ve allowed the journey to forge its own path , which works for me . I try to encourage people to do that .
I ’ ve seen people chase an early dream – taking a torturous path to achieve it . They haven ’ t enjoyed the journey and when they got to the final stage , they realised they don ’ t enjoy the destination either . I think it ’ s important to be true to yourself and to enjoy the journey through life , perhaps not worrying so much about where it takes you .
People have asked me , “ what would you go back and tell your 13-year-old self ?” I wouldn ’ t change anything at all .
On the relevance of STEM subjects to all careers
The careers space is fascinating right now , and people are running to keep up with the rate of change and the pace of technology . We ’ re on the cusp of artificial intelligence , and quantum computing is around the corner , which will be an absolute game changer .
The kind of careers that are going to be available in 20 years ’ time will be different to the ones we ’ re experiencing now ; the ones we have now are very different to careers 20 years ago . So that ’ s a challenge for teachers and it ’ s a challenge for students .
What we do know is that one of the things that will give you a good base is STEM education . Whatever you go into , even if you ’ re going into arts and drama , technology is coming into everybody ’ s world . If you have a foundation in science and technology , engineering and mathematics , it will set you up well for the future . It will give people the tools they ’ ll need to be able to adapt to changing careers in the future .
One of the biggest things we get taught is to normalise the abnormal , and to accept change
On embracing change and developing resilience
Change is inevitable and [ as an astronaut ] we have to be able to cope with that , which is why we focus a lot on developing a flexible and a positive mental attitude . One of the biggest things we get taught is to normalise the abnormal , and to accept change . It comes back to resilience , really , in terms of embracing unusual circumstances .
A Soyuz capsule is a tiny , claustrophobic , terrible space and if you went in there feeling panicked or thinking “ this is it ; I just had my last breath of fresh air and now I ’ m trapped ”, you wouldn ’ t be able to do your job . So you embrace it : it ’ s your home ; your new normal . You become more resilient towards it .
On gaining a new environmental perspective from space
Astronauts who come back are much more aware of how we need to protect our environment . Seeing the atmosphere from space , you realise just how incredibly thin it is ; it ’ s a tiny strip of gas . You see things like sandstorms coming over from the Sahara or wildfires in Canada or America ; you see how the smoke and the sands dissipate over vast areas because it ’ s trapped in a thin strip of our atmosphere , so it has to spread out .
That gives you an appreciation that we ’ re all breathing the same air on the planet . You see the Amazon rainforest and the disruption there . It really gives you an environmental perspective in terms of looking after our planet . But I think more than that , it actually allows you to think about humanity and who we are as a species . When you ’ re on a spacewalk , you think “ I shouldn ’ t be here ; this seems to be so unreal . I ’ m a conscious being looking down on the cradle of life as we know it on Earth ”.
We are just part of the universe . I spoke to several astronauts who had that similar feeling . It ’ s a very difficult thing to process but it certainly does change your perspective .
On the educational legacy of the Principia mission
When I was first assigned to the mission in 2013 , I sat down with the UK space agency and we decided that we wanted to have a huge impact with outreach . Education was incredibly important to us . It was important to me , personally , but also for the agency and for the government as we were facing a skills shortage – and still are .
Students were not taking up as many STEM-related subjects as they had in the past and businesses were not getting graduates with the right qualifications in the UK . So we were pushing on an open door when we were trying to build this outreach programme .
We wanted to focus on all ages and also to bring in subjects like art and drama and literature and tie it all to space , so that people could use it as a source of inspiration and education .
We had about 30 projects . Each one had a life of its own and we ended up reaching over two million students , achieving massive engagement throughout the campaign . It goes to show that people are very interested in space and science and technology , and we were able to build on that .
Tim Peake ’ s autobiography , Limitless , was published last month , charting his road to becoming an astronaut . Based on exclusive diaries and video recordings from his mission , it takes readers closer than ever before to experiencing what life in space is really like .