TIM PEAKE and BRITAIN'S ROAD TO SPACE

Erik Seedhouse

sept 2017 · Springer

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For centuries the British developed a reputation as a nation of explorers. From Francis Drake’s circumnavigation of the globe to the ascent of Everest, British explorers crossed oceans and continents and ventured where few, if any, had gone before. Until very recently, that legacy of exploration had not extended to space. For decades, successive governments chose to stay out of the human spaceflight programme, but in 2008 there were signs of optimism when ESA selected a new class of six astronauts, including, for the first time, a British representative: Timothy Peake.

This book puts the reader in the flight suit of Britain’s first male astronaut. In addition to delving into the life of Tim Peake, this book discusses the learning curves required in astronaut and mission training and the complexity of the technologies required to launch an astronaut and keep them alive for months on end. This book underscores the fact that technology and training, unlike space, do not exist in a vacuum; complex technical systems, like the ISS, interact with the variables of human personality, and the cultural background of the astronauts. But ultimately, this is the story of Tim Peake and the Principia mission and the down-to-the-last-bolt descriptions of life aboard the ISS, by way of the hurdles placed by the British government and the rigors of training at Russia’s Star City military base.

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Dr. Erik Seedhouse is an assistant professor in applied aviation sciences/commercial space operations and a research scientist specializing in space life sciences and physiology, the subject in which he obtained his Ph.D. while working for the European Space Agency between 1996 and 1998. In 2009, he was one of the final candidates for selection as an astronaut in the CSA’s Astronaut Recruitment Campaign. He has completed all the training required by a suborbital astronaut and hopes to fly on Blue Origin's New Shepard vehicle in the near future. Between 2008-13 he was Director of Canada's Manned Centrifuge and Hypobaric Chamber Operations. He works as an assistant professor at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, a manned spaceflight consultant, triathlon coach, author and public speaker. His latest book is To Mars Fast.