Tim Peake: Live Launch In Pictures

Tim Peake: The Family's Emotional Farewell
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The farewell party for British astronaut Tim Peake ahead of his historic journey to the International Space Station, has been an emotional one.

While the world cheered the 43-year-old father of two, his sons understandably found it harder to wave their dad goodbye.

His youngest, four-year-old Oliver, crying out loud, said: “I want to go with daddy.”

Describing what the trip to space will mean for the family, Peake told The Independent: "Often I talk to the boys they are counting down the number of sleeps to when they will see daddy again."

Blasting off at 11:03am from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, on the Soyuz rocket, Peake will be accompanied by American Tim Kopra and Russian Yuri Malenchenko.