This mission enabled them to study how humans react
to living in extreme conditions with very little privacy
and in complete isolation from the outside world. This
expedition which simulated space exploration, gave
the team an idea of what they could expect and how
they would cope in the confined space of the ISS.
…and below the ocean waves
NASA’s NEEMO (Extreme Environment Mission Operations) gives space agencies from around the world the
unique opportunity to study and test various technologies that are used, or could be used in space whilst gaining valuable information on the behaviour of crews on
long missions. Similar to Tim’s cave training in Sardinia, it
also simulates the often harsh conditions found in space
giving astronauts the chance to discover their strengths
and weaknesses whilst living in difficult conditions.
Following on from his visit to the caves of Sardinia,
Peake ventured further afield to Florida, where he became the first ESA astronaut to experience the NEEMO
Mission. Based off the Florida coast in the Key Largo
National Marine Sanctuary, the underwater habitat of
the Aquarius laboratory became Tim’s home for two
weeks. With the rest of his crew, he helped develop
tools and technologies that may be used on a future
crewed mission to an asteroid, planet or moon.
Tim Peake conducts a live video link from the Aquarius underwater habitat
with the UK Space Environment Conference, in Aberdeen, Scotland.
Credit: ESA/Hervé Stevenin
STEM and engaging young minds
Tim has always been a supporter and advocate
of STEM subjects, and STEM Outreach, and his keen
and vocal support for these was rewarded in 2009
as he was appointed an ambassador for UK Science
and space-based careers. It is through this position
that he is able to actively promote the STEM subjects
to youngsters throughout the UK and further afield.
Due to his passion for STEM Outreach, and his
enthusiasm to get children and older students involved in his mission, Tim has been able to launch
a number of competitions here in the UK.
BBC presenter Lindsay Russel, logo designer Troy and Tim Peake with the Principia
mission logo. The BBC’s Blue Peter programme asked schoolchildren to design
a mission patch for Tim and received more than 3000 entries. Credit: ESA
The ‘Great British Space Dinner’ competition,
which ran last year, gave children the opportunity to come up with a well-balanced meal that Tim
could enjoy on the ISS. It also gave young people
the chance to think about nutrition, and how important food is to astronauts whilst they are in space.
Along with popular children’s programme ‘Blue
Peter’, the ESA and UKSA called upon schoolchildren of the UK to design the mission patch for Tim’s
Principia Mission. Both of these competitions were
met with a huge deal of excitement and flair, proving that Tim’s mission is gathering plenty of support
and interest not only from adults but young people.
More recently, Tim, along with UK Space
organisations and Raspberry Pi have offered
students of all ages the unique opportunity to
devise an app or experiment to run in space.
It is because of ventures such as these, that young
people can hopefully see how stimulating and rewarding
a career in STEM subjects can be, with Tim doing everything he can to engage and inspire school children and
students in all corners of the UK, Europe and beyond.
Tim visited London in November 2014, and
I had the opportunity to interview him about
his upcoming mission and STEM outreach.
RocketSTEM: You have engaged with children and
captivated their imaginations by involving them in your
missions, with a number of competitions such as ‘design
a mission patch’ and design a meal for the ISS’. How
important is it to you that children (especially those in
the UK who may not be aware of your mission or the UK
Space Agency) are involved in what you do, and what
impact do you hope your mission will have on them?
Tim PEAKE: “I can hope to have an inspirational
impact on young people. I remember being really enthused by space and space travel, and also
aviation. I hope that by having the same effect on
young people we can encourage them to look
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