Astronaut Tim Peake opens up about the secrets ‘every astronaut’ keeps
- Astronaut Tim Peake is hiding secrets about his time in space aboard the International Space Station (ISS)
- He claims that all astronauts keep secrets about their time in space
- However, he does reveal his thoughts on aliens – and they might just surprise you
Published on Apr 07, 2024 at 9:01 AM (UTC+4)
by Amelia Jean Hershman-Jones
Last updated on Apr 05, 2024 at 7:02 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Adam Gray
Apparently, astronaut Tim Peake is hiding secrets about his time in space aboard the International Space Station (ISS).
Few of us know what goes on 250 miles above the planet – but the first British astronaut to walk in space in 2016 has given us a few teasers.
“If I have a secret, I’m not going to share it,” he told Metro.
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“It’s probably something that doesn’t need to be written down in print or advertised anywhere.”
He continued: “Every astronaut has secrets, but they really are secrets.
“Secrets as to some of the things we get up to, some of the jokes, some of the pranks – and maybe some of the mistakes we make.”
But he has spoken about one gaffe he made during a Japanese experiment.
The pressure comes from the fact that ‘everything you touch on the space station is the culmination of years of people’s work, so you need it to be perfect.’
He continued: “And then I mixed up an experiment. Thankfully it didn’t have a huge impact.”
Take the toolkit that was dropped during a spacewalk last month by two astronauts working on the ISS.
The tool bag is now orbiting Earth at 17,000 mph, and amateur astronomers were able to spot the bag using binoculars or a telescope.
Or even the tomato that was lost and then – a long time later – found aboard ISS.
Tim focussed on this human side of being an astronaut in his latest book: Space: The Human Story.
His ninth book tells the very human story of those living in space and the astronauts’ journey to get there.
He talks about a training accident that almost killed Neil Armstrong.
He also revealed there was one time when an Apollo crew almost mutinied.
And, as Peake admits, 2024 looks set to mark the start of a space renaissance.
An unmanned US spacecraft is set to return to the moon for the first time in 50 years.
That’s ahead of future human-led missions aboard Artemis III scheduled for 2025.
However, Peake believes the human mission will actually happen ‘no earlier than 2026’.
Of Elon Musk’s moves to launch the most powerful rocket in the world via SpaceX, Peake is skeptical.
While he thinks the company’s take-off and landing suits designed by renowned Hollywood costume designer Jose Fernandez look ‘fantastic’, he doubts their practicality.
“From an astronaut’s point of view we don’t really care what they look like, they’ve just got to be comfortable,” he said.
Rumor has it that Tim could be coming out of retirement to captain a UK Space Agency mission, blasting off in a SpaceX Crew Dragon vehicle.
So now the secret we all want the truth to: do aliens exist?
Tim is remarkably receptive to the idea.
“I think there will be intelligent life out there,” he said.
“We know the building blocks for life are floating around our solar system, and we’ve already found 5,000 exoplanets just in our local vicinity – and there are hundreds of billions of galaxies in the universe.
“The question is, how far away are they, and will we ever make contact? Do we ever want to make contact?”
The closest he claims to have come to experiencing it: seeing three unidentified lights aboard ISS.
Spoiler alert: it was urine.
A leak in a neighboring probe was ejecting waste into space, which promptly crystallized, sparkling as it passed the window.
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All Supercar Blondie contributors undergo editorial review and fact-checking to ensure accuracy and authority in automotive journalism. After gaining her BA Hons in French and English at the University of Nottingham, Amelia embarked on a vocational diploma from the National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ). This led to numerous opportunities, from interning at Vogue to being on the small team that launched Women’s Health magazine in the UK, which was named the PPA Consumer magazine of the year for three years running. As Health, Beauty and Fitness editor, Amelia personally received a Johnson & Johnson Award and was shortlisted for both PPA and BSME titles. Since then, Amelia has created content for numerous titles and brands, including the Telegraph, 111 Skin, Waitrose, Red magazine, Stylist, and Elle, as well as being Head of Content at Vitality and Editor in Chief at INLondon magazine. “My superpower is translating technical jargon about the mechanical workings of a supercar into a relatable story you’ll want to share with your friends after you’ve read it.” After joining the SB Media family as a senior journalist in September of 2023, Amelia’s role has evolved to see her heading up the SEO output of the editorial team. From researching the most ‘Google-able’ key terms to producing evergreen content - it’s been a time of hard work, growth, and success for the editorial team and the Supercar Blondie website. “I like to think of myself as a ‘method journalist’. In other words: I live and breathe whatever I am writing about. When writing about fitness, I trained as a personal trainer, and as a beauty editor, I completed an ‘expert’ in scent diploma with the Fragrance Foundation. “During my tenure at Supercar Blondie, however, I did something I never thought possible: I passed my driving test at the age of 36. One day I’d love to train as a mechanic to better understand what happens under the hood, too. “My sweet spot is providing readers with a ‘takeaway’ (read: something new they didn’t know before) after reading every one of my stories. While I don’t claim to be an expert in the automotive world, I know the experts and bodies in the field to rely on to provide our readers with an informative and thought-provoking story every time they visit the site.”
