There’s a #BritInSpace, and as far as I could see, he didn’t shit himself on the way up. Because that’s what would have worried me the most about the whole thing, not the lack of gravity, or the endless abyss of space, but soiling yourself from both ends live on the BBC.
Tim Peake is the first British astronaut ever to reside at the International Space Station, and for one Tuesday morning, the nation went space nuts.
For the occasion, Brian Cox and Dara O’Briain hosted a special episode of stargazing live called Blast Off! They were live from a science museum and had 2000 fanatical children with British flags cheering at everything. To break up the boredom of watching three men sit in a metal box for an hour, they had astronaut guest Chris Hadfield, the guy who sang Space Oddity from the International Space Station and they fed astronaut food to three children. Not one of them liked it, thus dissuading the next generation of children from becoming scientists.
Amusingly, Peake looked wildly happy just to be there, whereas his two colleagues didn’t really look bothered to be going to space, although one of them had been six times before. Maybe the fun wears off. With five minutes to lift off, the BBC Coverage ran a video of many people who’d like to wish Tim well on his voyage. Here’s the list:
Mounts Bay Singers, Penzance (who were singing Rocket Man),
David Cameron,
Graham Norton,
Alex Jones and Matt Baker from the One Show,
Nick Grimshaw,
Two men I didn’t know,
David Dimbleby,
Sting,
Lots of faces of people at once,
David Coulthard, Eddie Jordan and Suzi Perry,
Jools Holland,
John Bishop,
Some scientists,
Gary Lineker,
Brian May,
Fiona Bruce,
Peter Capaldi,
And some pilots.
I find it hard to believe every one of those people wrote to the BBC especially in order to wish someone they’ve never met a good time in space. Sting said he was jealous of the view.
Listening to the radio later, I heard his wife say that they used to joke that she wished he was a banker, so she’d know where he was. He’s in space. Where could he possibly go? It takes literally millions of pounds for him to go anywhere, and if he was a banker, he’d almost certainly be sleeping with someone else’s wife.
Good luck in space Tim, don’t shit yourself on the way back down.
The Daily Spittoon 