Tim Peake set to become first Briton to carry out spacewalk
TIM Peake is set to become the first British citizen to carry out a spacewalk, Nasa has confirmed.
Tim Peake is set to carry out the first ever spacewalk by a British citizen
The British astronaut and his colleague Tim Copra will leave the International Space Station (ISS) to repair a power unit on the outside, the European Space Agency (ESA) confirmed.
Major Peake wrote on Twitter: "I am thrilled to be assigned a spacewalk in 10 days. Lots of work to do before Tim and I can open the hatch."
The operation on January 15 is expected to last around six hours.
Mr Peake and Mr Copra will exit the US Quest airlock to replace an electrical box known as a Sequential Shunt Unit (SSU).
Mr Peake and Tim Copra arrived at the International Space Station on December 15
Mr Peake will spend six months in space
The pair arrived on a Russian rocket on December 15 to begin a six-month stay on the orbiting outpost.
Mr Peake supported a spacewalk in December last year, during which he stayed inside the ISS, helping American colleagues don their spacesuits and monitoring their progress during the mission.
He became the first person to deliver a ‘God save the Queen’ message directly to the monarch from space.
Tim Peake boards International Space Station
Mr Peake, a former British Army Air Crops officer, also gave an unsuspecting woman a shock while calling earth after dialling the wrong number and saying: “Hello, is this planet Earth?”
Mr Peake became the first person to deliver a ‘God save the Queen’ message from space