Space Archives - Primary Facts

Here are some facts about Tim Peake.

Tim Peake is an astronaut with the European Space Agency. He was the first British astronaut with the agency, and was the 7th British born person to go into space.

Peake was born in Chichester, West Sussex in 1972. He studied at the town’s high school for boys, and later attended the well-known military academy at Sandhurst.
His full name is Timothy Nigel Peake.
After graduating in 1992, he joined the army and became a flight instructor and helicopter pilot.
In 2006, he completed a degree course in flight dynamics at the University of Portsmouth.
In 2012, Tim Peake spent 12 days underwater on the Aquarius underwater laboratory. The lab is located 19 metres below the surface of the water, off the coast of Florida, and is used for scientific research.
In December, 2015, Peake joined the International Space Station (ISS). His first meal on board the space station was a bacon sandwich and he received messages of support from Queen Elizabeth II and Elton John.
During his stay on the ISS, Peake researched new medical cures. However, he also had to help with more mundane tasks, such as vacuuming the dust on board, which floats in the air.

Tim Peake

Peake made a phone call to his family from the ISS, but mistakenly dialed the wrong number and got through to a stranger. He also made a short video message for the Queen.
On January 14th 2016, Tim Peake took part in a spacewalk along with another astronaut based at the ISS. The pair spent 4 hours laying cables, installing a vent and changing light bulbs.
Peake cut his historic spacewalk short when water was discovered in his partner’s helmet. The liquid probably leaked from the suit’s cooling system and in 2013 a similar problem almost killed another astronaut.
Tim Peake has been a strong supporter of the ISS being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize one day. Past recipients have included Mother Teresa, the Red Cross and Nelson Mandela.
Tim Peake is active on Twitter. You can follow him here.

On 20th July 1969, Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the Moon. He is obviously best known for this achievement, but there was a lot more to him than just that moment. Below are some of the key facts about Neil Armstrong. Some of them you’ll probably know already, but hopefully you’ll learn something new as well.

Neil Armstrong was born on 5th August 1930 in Wapakoneta, Ohio.

He was really interested in flight and he managed to get a student pilot’s license when he was 16. He was able to fly a plane before he could drive a car!
He studied aeronautical engineering at Purdue University. He was on a US Navy scholarship.
In 1949, during his time at Purdue, he was called up to fight in the Korean War. He was a US Navy pilot and successfully completed over 75 combat missions.
After the end of the Korean War, Neil Armstrong returned to university and finished his studies.
He joined NACA (which later became NASA – National Aeronautics and Space Administration), testing aircraft (such as the X-15 rocket plane) and working as an engineer.
Neil Armstrong joined the astronaut program in 1963, moving to Houston, Texas.
He was the command pilot for the Gemini 8 mission in 1966. Armstrong and his fellow astronaut, David Scott, managed to dock two vehicles in space (the first time this had ever been done), but technical difficulties meant that the mission had to be cut short.
On 16th July 1969, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins set off on the first manned space mission (Apollo 11) to the Moon. On 20th July 1969, Neil Armstrong piloted Buzz Aldrin in the Lunar Module to the Moon’s surface. They spent about two and a half hours on the Moon, collecting samples and taking photographs. The mission returned on 24th July.
After returning to Earth, Neil Armstrong became a massive celebrity, but he was never comfortable with fame and rarely gave interviews. He continued to work for NASA up until the early 1970s. He then became a professor of aerospace engineering at the University of Cincinnati.
Neil Armstrong died on 25th August 2012, following complications resulting from hear surgery.

Category: Space

Tim Peake: Facts About the British Astronaut

Neil Armstrong: Facts About the First Man to Walk on the Moon