Tim Peakes's Spacecraft

The special exhibition in the museum includes the spacecraft Soyuz Descent Module TMA-19M, 2015 in which British astronaut Tim Peake, Russian Yuri Malenchenko and American Tim Kopra returned to earth on the18th of June 2016, after serving on the International Space Station. The module (approximately one-twentieth of the spaceship that left earth) is the only part that returns.

The notices visible through the window say, in Russian and English, with illustrations:
MAN INSIDE
HELP

TAKE THE KEY
PUT INTO HOLE
OPEN THE HATCH
 the aeronautical equivalent to 'baby on board', presumably in case the vehicle landed in the middle of nowhere in Kazakhstan with only bilingual peasants first on the scene to effect a rescue.  The extra photo is of Tim Peake's spacesuit from which we realised that he is rather shorter than we expected.

We experienced the Space Descent, speeded up from four hours to a mere 15 minutes, by way of a VR headset and headphones, narrated by Tim Peake but from the comfort of an aeroplane seat instead of a cramped spacecraft.

Comments
Sign in or get an account to comment.