Tim Peake set for return to International Space Station
British astronaut Tim Peake is to go into space a second time.
The announcement was made as the Soyuz TMA-19M spacecraft that launched Major Peake into orbit and returned him to Earth went on public display at London's Science Museum.
The museum said Maj Peake would return to the International Space Station following his mission which began in December 2015.
Refurbished but still singed by the heat of re-entry, the capsule joins other exhibits charting the history of space exploration.
During his 186 days on the ISS the former helicopter test pilot and father of two participated in more than 250 scientific experiments, performed a space walk, ran the London Marathon on a treadmill, and inspired more than a million schoolchildren with educational outreach activities.
In June 2016 Maj Peake and crew mates American Nasa astronaut Colonel Tim Kopra and Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko made the trip back to Earth in the Soyuz space capsule measuring just over six feet across.
Maj Peake was the first British astronaut to be sent to the ISS by the European Space Agency.
His mission was named Principia after Sir Isaac Newton's landmark work describing the laws of motion and gravity.
Thrilling news that @astro_timpeake will return to space on a second @esa mission to the @Space_Station #Soyuz pic.twitter.com/kPSYIpTtbZ
— Science Museum (@sciencemuseum) January 26, 2017
During his time in space he worked up to 14 hours a day, participating in experiments devised by scientists from around the world.
He said the highlight of his mission was the space walk he conducted with Col Kopra in January to repair electrical components on the outside of the space station.
