Major Tim Peake, the first British astronaut to board the International Space Station (ISS), failed to phone home from space. While he was successful in assisting his fellow astronauts in their recent spacewalk, he was not able to talk to his parents, simply because they were out when he called.
Missed Call
Tim's parents, Nigel and Angela from Westbourne, said they visited their daughter who lives nearby. In a span of an hour, a call from space reached their home phone, but had to be turned into a voicemail message, which Nigel described as "surreal."
"This is just your son calling from the International Space Station," the voicemail message said. "I'm sorry you're not in."
They may be out when Tim called but the message left by their son will stay where it is forever, Nigel assured.
Flat Tim
Tim's absence will be felt at the Peake's Christmas dinner table. Although he is miles away, the family found a way to include Tim in the festivities, but no, it does not involve a live hologram image of Tim.
When Tim flew to the ISS, the people in his home village threw a celebratory party. They made a cardboard cut-out of Tim and displayed it during the event. Nigel said they borrowed what they now call "Flat Tim" for the holidays.
"We've got used to calling him Flat Tim, so Flat Tim will be having dinner with us on Christmas Day," said Angela.
Now, it's standing in the corner of the room, so it will be there to accompany the family as the turkey is carved and the celebrations happen.
Space Adventures
Tim's two sons, six-year-old Thomas and four-year-old Oliver are doing pretty well. Nigel said the boys have already gotten accustomed to the fact that their father is at the space station and that they will be one with the world in following his space adventures.
Speaking of adventures, Tim recently guided his fellow astronauts as they performed an extra-vehicular activity (EVA). On Wednesday, the station's Mobile Transporter got stuck. The system carries a mobile robot arm system on rails and is considered as the main "backbone" of the ISS.
NASA astronauts Tim Kopra and Scott Kelly had to step outside of the ISS to fix the jammed system. They cannot delay the repair because a Russian Progress craft is due to dock at the station in two days.
Peake's responsibility was to help his colleagues get in and out of their space suits safely through the airlock. He also monitored the entire spacewalk and coordinated the events with mission control.
NASA was able to capture the astronauts in action, even showing dramatic clips of the men working with the planet Earth as their background.
Greetings From Space
On Friday, Dec. 18, the ISS crew sent a Christmas video message to their families and friends. During Tim's turn to speak, he said that although they cannot be with their loved ones during the holidays, the team will be orbiting the planet 16 times on Christmas day. He ended by sending good wishes to all earthlings.
Kopra, Kelly and Peake all sent cheery holiday greetings and even finished their video message with a reversed somersault.
