Tim Peake fired up by combustion experiments on International Space Station
Playing with fire in space has been the "coolest" part of Major Tim Peake's scientific mission so far, the British astronaut has revealed.
Maj Peake confessed that he was surprised to see "naked flames" burning on the International Space Station (ISS) where fire is one of the greatest threats to safety.
Answering a question from the Press Association during a special live link-up with science journalists from the ISS, he said: "I think the coolest experiment was actually looking at flame combustion.
"I never expected to be on board the International Space Station being able to see in the microgravity science glove box actual flames and setting fire to different materials and investigating flame combustion techniques.
"Certainly seeing open naked flames on a space station was something I wasn't quite expecting. Of course it was all done with all the proper safety precautions but it was still exciting to see."
Learning about the way materials burn in microgravity could help improve fuel efficiency "not just for future space exploration vehicles but also combustion engines down here on Earth" he said.
Peake, who has spent the last four months aboard the ISS, was talking from a giant screen in a lecture theatre at the Royal Institution in London.
Answering other questions he also spoke about the experiments he conducted on himself to investigate the effects of microgravity on the human body.
