Reds' Foundation blasts off with MissionX
Reds Foundation blast off with MissionX
Yesterday Salford City Reds Foundation welcomed hundreds of local school children to listen to a presentation by Major Tim Peake about the European Space Agency and his experiences as he prepares to journey into space. The school children aged 8 -12 came from across the whole of Salford as part of the MissionX awareness campaign and were accompanied by City Mayor Ian Stewart and Assistant Mayors Ann-Marie Humphries and Stephen Coen, who had organised the whole event in conjunction with Venture Thinking.
Take a look at our video footage at the Salford City Stadium of the presentation, which ended with rockets made by the local school children soaring into the sky above the stadium - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEPElJ1DuPg. Major Peake spent time talking to the local children as well as posing for pictures with the Reds’ Neville the Devil and Jack Holmes, who presented him with a Salford City Reds shirt.
Tim Peake is a former British Army Air Corps officer and a current European Space Agency astronaut. He is the first British citizen to be selected as an astronaut by ESA. Peake began ESA's intensive astronaut basic training course in September 2009 and graduated on 22 November 2010.
Peake originally joined the Army after school before becoming a qualified helicopter pilot in 1994 and a qualified flight instructor in 1998. In 2005, he graduated from the Empire Test Pilots School and was awarded the Westland's Trophy for best rotary wing student. Peake completed a BSc(Hons) in flight dynamics and evaluation at the University of Portsmouth the following year. Peake left the army in 2009 after 17 years of service and over 3000 flying hours to his credit, becoming a test pilot with AgustaWestland.
Peake beat out over 8,000 other applicants for one of the six places on the ESA's new astronaut training programme. If successful, Peake would become the first Briton to fly into space without a private contract or American citizenship like Michael Foale.
On April 16, 2012, NASA announced that Peake would serve as an aquanaut aboard the Aquarius underwater laboratory during the NEEMO 16 undersea exploration mission, scheduled to begin on June 11, 2012 and last twelve days. The NEEMO 16 crew successfully "splashed down" at 11:05 am on June 11. On the morning of June 12, Peake and his crewmates officially became aquanauts, having spent over 24 hours underwater. The crew safely returned to the surface on June 22.
For more information the MissionX programmes please visit www.bis.gov.uk/ukspaceagency or about all things related to the Foundation please take a look at our website – www.salfordcityredsfoundation.co.uk , follow us on Twitter @SCRFoundation or call the office on 0161 820 2739