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I feel great, says Tim Peake a month after returning to Earth I feel great, says Tim Peake a month after returning to Earth
(about 2 hours later)
British astronaut Tim Peake says he is feeling “great” a month after returning from his six-month mission to the international space station. After six months in space, Tim Peake says he feels in “great physical condition,” as he begins to readjust to life on planet Earth.
Getting back his sense of balance had been the most difficult part of readjusting back to gravity on Earth, said the 44-year-old father of two. Peake returned from the International Space Station in mid-June aboard a cramped Soyuz capsule with his crewmates, Colonel Tim Kopra of Nasa and Yuri Malenchenko, a Russian cosmonaut.
During his intensive rehabilitation programme, Maj Peake has undergone brain and bone scans, donated muscle tissue and had numerous blood tests as doctors investigate how his body is coping. The seven hour journey, which saw the capsule’s exterior heat up to a toasty 1,600C as it travelled through the Earth’s atmosphere, ended after the Soyuz opened its jaunty red and white striped main parachute and landed the trio on the steppes of Kazakhstan.
Speaking at the Farnborough international airshow, he said: “I feel in great physical condition.” But adjusting to life back on terra firma, says Peake, takes time. Speaking at the Farnborough airshow, the British astronaut revealed that for the first three days after he returned, he suffered from vertigo. “Once that disappears it’s really a case of the body learning to balance again,” he said. “That’s what takes the longest, because your body has shut down the vestibular system for the six months in space.”
The astronaut was making his first public appearance in the UK since landing on the steppes of Kazakhstan in a Soyuz space capsule on 18 June. The reality of being back is also taking time to sink in. “It still seems fairly surreal that less than four weeks ago I was on board the International Space Station travelling at 25 times the speed of sound and looking down on planet Earth,” he said.
He said: “It still seems fairly surreal that less than four weeks ago I was on board the international space station travelling at 25 times the speed of sound and looking down on planet Earth.” His first public event since returning from the ISS, Peake appeared at the Farnborough airshow despite calls from campaigners for him to boycott the event in protest at the involvement of some of the world’s biggest arms manufacturers.
Describing what it was like to readjust to Earth’s gravity after 186 days in orbit, Peake said the first three days were “fairly uncomfortable” because of vertigo. Speaking of the changes a long stint in space has made to his body, Peake revealed that he expects it will take up to a year for his bones to bounce back, but he added, “overall I’ve lost 2% of bone density, which is remarkable - to spend six months in space and just come back with that loss.”
He added: “Once that disappears it’s really a case of the body learning to balance again. That’s what takes the longest, because your body has shut down the vestibular system for the six months in space. That actually takes a long time, to learn the finesse of balance.” That, he said, was a testament to advances in understanding of how to live and work in space. “This is really paving the way to those moon and Mars missions,” he added.
Peake said he still had a “bit of work to do in the gym” but had experienced no physical problems. However, he added that it would take six months to a year for the microstructure in his bones to recover. It’s work Peake himself is helping to further. Aside from antics such as running a marathon, playing water ping pong and occasionally phoning the wrong number, Peake has conducted a number of experiments on board the ISS to help scientists understand and combat the effects of space travel on the body.
“Overall I’ve lost 2% of bone density, which is remarkable – to spend six months in space and just come back with that loss,” said Peake. “That’s really a testament to how far we’ve come in understanding how to live and work in space. This is really paving the way to those moon and Mars missions.” Since returning to Earth he has also completed three weeks of intensive rehabilitation in Germany where, among a host of tests, Peake has undergone MRI scans, blood tests and muscle biopsies.
The view of planet Earth from space remains the one thing he misses most about his mission. “Of course I miss the view of the planet,” he said. “That never gets boring. Every time you go to the window you see something amazing.” Among those eagerly awaiting results of the research is the Duchess of Cornwall who, as president of the National Osteoporosis Society, wrote to Peake ahead of his return expressing a keen interest in his work.
His best moment was when fellow astronaut American Tim Kopra opened the hatch door at the start of their space walk in January. “The sunlight flooded in and it was an overwhelming feeling of euphoria,” said Peake. But while Peake is clearly happy to be home, the magic of space travel lingers. “Of course I miss the view of the planet,” said Peake. “That never gets boring. Every time you go to the window you see something amazing.”