Astronaut Tim Peake Gets 2-Week Extension Aboard The International Space Station

British astronaut Tim Peake will be spending his time aboard the International Space Station longer than expected as the European Space Agency (ESA) announced a two-week extension for him and his crew on April 30.

Known as the first British ESA astronaut, Peake was blasted off into the space station in December 2015, along with NASA astronaut Tim Kopra and cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko.

The three of them were set to come back to Earth on June 5, but will now return on June 18 - an extra 13 days.

"I get to stay an extra few days in space," tweeted Peake. "Looking forward to being back, but loving it here and a lot more to do!"

Mission control aims to keep the trio aboard the ISS to keep it fully operational as long as possible during the changeover of crews.

Another three-strong crew will travel to the ISS three days after Major Peake's return. This crew will include NASA astronaut Kathleen Rubins, Japanese astronaut Takuya Onishi and Russian commander Anatoli Ivanishin.

Major Peake's Accomplishments

On April 29, Peake successfully controlled a remote rover named Bridget on Earth from the space station.

Bridget drove across a Martian-like sandpit that was set up in Stevenage and explored a simulated cave for two hours before searching for its targets. But the mission was not a completely smooth ride as Peake encountered several glitches, including a delay in communication and a lost transmission link. Despite that, Peake was able to drive Bridget around and find the UV-lighted targets.

On April 25, Peake released the first Filipino satellite named DIWATA-1 into space from Japan's Kibo laboratory. He also became the second ESA astronaut to chart his fine motor control and see an overview of his muscle speed and torque through the help of the Mares muscle-measurement unit.

On April 23, the astronaut completed the London Marathon while he was in space. He ran a 26.2-mile course after 3 hours, 35 minutes, and 21 seconds. However, he was not the first astronaut to accomplish this. In 2007, astronaut Sunita Williams joined and finished the Boston Marathon inside the ISS.

In January, Peake became the first ever Briton to perform a spacewalk. He snapped a selfie to commemorate the historic moment.