Astronaut Tim Peake on Space: The Human Story

Tim Peake was the first British ESA astronaut to visit the International Space Station - and now he visits Bath to tell us the captivating story of humans in space.

A former Apache helicopter pilot, flight instructor and test pilot, Tim was selected as an ESA astronaut in May 2009. After years of arduous training Tim was assigned to a mission to the International Space Station in May 2013. He launched to space on 15 December 2015.

Tim was the first British astronaut to perform a spacewalk (EVA) and took part in over 250 scientific experiments during his mission. Tim was awarded a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George by Queen Elizabeth II.

Only 628 people in human history have left Earth. In Space: The Human Story, Peake traces the lives of these remarkable men and women who have forged the way, from Yuri Gagarin to Neil Armstrong, from Valentina Tereshkova to Peggy Whitson.

Full of exclusive new stories, and astonishing detail only an astronaut would know, the book conveys what space exploration is really like: the wondrous view of Earth, the surreal weightlessness, the extraordinary danger, the surprising humdrum, the unexpected humour, the newfound perspective, the years of training, the psychological pressures, the gruelling physical toll, the thrill of launch and the trepidation of re-entry. The book also examines the surprising, shocking and often poignant stories of astronauts back on Earth, whose lives are forever changed as they readjust to terra firma.

Publication of the book comes on the eve of NASA's plans to return to the moon, fifty years after an astronaut last walked on the lunar surface. In 2024 the Artemis II mission will send four astronauts to orbit the moon. In 2025 Artemis III will send the first woman and the first person of colour to step on the lunar surface. What will separate these upcoming moonwalkers from the legendary Apollo crews?

Does it still take a daring-do attitude, super-human fitness, intelligence, plus the 'Right-stuff' - a fabled grace under pressure? And how will astronauts travel even further - to Mars and beyond?

Space: The Human Story reveals all.