Chichester-born astronaut heads to Florida space centre

Chichester-born Timothy Peake had the experience of a lifetime when he met experienced astronaut Michael Foale.

Major Peake, who grew up in Westbourne, is set to become the UK's first official astronaut when he goes into orbit after being selected by the European Space Agency (ESA) this year.

His appointment was praised by Dr Foale, who was born in the UK but became a US citizen to pursue his dream of going into space.

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The two met at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida last week.

"We are very proud of Tim," said mum Angela.

"It's all very exciting, he started work yesterday. We heard from him last night and it all sounds interesting."

Major Peake has started his training with the ESA and one of his arduous tasks includes learning Russian from scratch.

His appointment surprised many because the British government does

not subscribe to the ESA, which is based in Paris.

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But he beat more than 8,400 applicants to be accepted into the ESA's Astronaut Corps.

It has been a rollercoaster year for Major Peake, who visited his old school Chichester High School for Boys in July to unveil a new sports hall which was named after him.

His eight-month-old son Thomas, his wife Rebecca, his sister Fiona O'Connor and his parents Nigel and Angela accompanied him.

Major Peake has a degree in flight dynamics and has been in the armed forces for 18 years.

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He flies Apache helicopters and has completed more than 3,000 hours of flying. He now lives in Salisbury, Wiltshire with his wife and son.

Dr Foale has become the most experienced astronaut in the history of human spaceflight, spending 370 days in orbit. He has also spent a lot of time on both Mir and the International space stations.

He was born in Kent and studied at Cambridge University before moving

to the US.

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