The Science Museum has unveiled a national tour of Tim Peake’s Soyuz spacecraft that safely brought the European Space Agency astronaut back to Earth.
British astronaut Tim Peake landed in the spacecraft on 18 June 2016 after spending six months aboard the International Space Station.
To help inspire the next generation of British scientists, engineers and astronauts the tour will see the spacecraft go on display at seven major cities and towns alongside a unique virtual reality experience developed by Samsung.
Speaking from the first destination, Bradford, Peake said: “It is wonderful to be in Bradford for the start of another incredible journey for this spacecraft, which took me on a life-changing journey and delivered me safely back to Earth.”
“I’m particularly happy that people up and down the UK now have the opportunity to discover more about my Principia mission and space travel, and that the Science Museum Group – with the support of Samsung – are doing so much to inspire the public and schools in this tour.”
From the 27 September to the 19 November, the spacecraft will visit Shildon, York, Manchester, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast.
There will also be a final location which will be chosen by the public. Any venue can enter here and then a public competition will be run to decide the winner.
The Soyuz TMA-19M descent module is a Russian-built spacecraft that makes up one part of the larger Soyuz spacecraft.
It’s currently used by international space agencies as a means of sending astronauts up to the International Space Station.
Once Tim Peake had safely docked with the station on 15 December 2015, the spacecraft remained docked for the six month duration of his mission.
At the end of the mission the three astronauts then entered the re-entry module which then allowed them to safely return back to Earth.