Day 15
Today, at exactly 11:03, the first Briton to work on board the ISS launched. He waved his friends and family off from the launch pad in Kazakhstan - as Dallas Campbell put it, what a way to get to the office! Once Tim and the other two crew members have completed the 6 hour journey to the ISS, Tim's main role will be to complete experiments but he also wants to make the most of his time up there - he really wants to inspire kids and adults alike and show them the wonder of space and science.
At exactly 17:33 GMT, the Soyuz docked with the ISS after they'd completed a manual docking - a couple of hours later, pressurisation checks had been completed - the hatch was opened and him and the crew floated into their home for the next 6 months.
The flight was relatively problem free - launch was completed in probably the best conditions possible. When it came to docking however, there was a slight issue which meant they had to complete a manual docking. We're still not sure what the issue was - this caused a delay in opening the hatch as the crew sent back data before putting the Soyuz in 'sleep mode'. This is such an important step because the Soyuz is their 'lifeboat' if there's an issue on board the ISS the crew can transfer to the Soyuz and quickly return to Earth.
Tim has embarked on an amazing adventure for himself and Britain - good luck Tim!
18/12 update: Tim has recently revealed on Twitter that his first space meal was a hot bacon sandwich and he'd also just found his tea - some things never change, wherever you are! :)
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