Tim Peake: How the former army major became Britain's first man in space – in his parents' words

If your child flits from hobby to hobby, always wanting to try something new, loves being outside and earns classroom plaudits for being the “calm, sensible” type, congratulations: for you might have spawned a future British astronaut.

These are the qualities, according to his parents, that put former army major Tim Peake on course for a place in history as Britain’s first man in space when he blasts 400km above the Earth next week.

His father, Nigel Peake, 73, reckons it was his son’s strength of character that shone through to help him beat more than 8,000 applicants for a place on the European Space Agency programme in 2009. Tim, 43, follows fellow Briton Helen Sharman, who made it into low Earth orbit, otherwise known as space, in 1991, although because her journey wasn’t government funded, Tim will be Britain’s first “official” astronaut.

“Even in subjects Tim was weak at, he’d get a good report as far as character went,” Mr Peake told The Independent on Sunday. “One primary school report at age 10 called him a ‘calm, sensible, level-headed boy’. That teacher had obviously picked out the characteristics you need as an astronaut.”

Angela Peake, 73, thinks her son’s childhood curiosity lies behind the incredible journey that has taken him from tours with the Army in Northern Ireland, Bosnia and Afghanistan, as well as a job as a helicopter test pilot, to the steppes of Kazakhstan, which is home to the Baikonur Cosmodrome and the Soyuz capsule that will launch Tim up to the International Space Station.

“When Tim was young, he always wanted to try new things. Then it was on to the next new thing. It could be difficult: as a parent, you’d think, ‘Will he stick at it?’ It could be frustrating,” Mrs Peake recalled. Her tip for anyone in a similar boat: “Let children try different things. Give them the opportunity. When they want to go on to the next thing, just let them.”

Tim differed from his elder sister, Fiona, who was “more single-minded”, Mrs Peake added. That said, Tim would also get stuck into pursuits he liked. “He persevered with swimming, although it didn’t come naturally. He wasn’t that good at it. Even if he was the last to finish, he’d keep plugging away.”

The aspect of astronaut training Tim had to “plug away” at most was learning Russian: although the working language on the ISS is English, Russia owns the only spacecraft that can take astronauts there. “Learning Russian really threw him, but he stuck at it. I don’t think he’d describe himself as fluent but he’s competent in the technical stuff,” said his father.

Tim’s parents, who live in Westbourne, near Chichester, where Tim grew up, leave for Kazakhstan on Tuesday, and will spend a few days in Moscow on the way. They’re hoping for some time with their son before launch day, but accept it may be through a window. “He’s in quarantine; we may be able to stand three feet away from him. We may be looking through a sheet of glass, but we’ll certainly wish him Godspeed,” Mr Peake added.

Tim’s wife, Rebecca, his two sons, aged six and four, his sister and his niece will also be there waving farewell to the Soyuz shuttle. His father expects to feel excited and “immensely proud, of course” but not too anxious given all the “hairy things” Tim did with the Army.

If Tim gets to do a spacewalk, outside the ISS, it will be the culmination of a lifelong love of the outdoors. “It was very clear from the outset that he wanted to be outdoors, doing things,” his father recalled. “Cross-country running, camping, canoeing, cycling. On holidays, if we were in a caravan, he’d be in the tent outside. He’d always find somewhere exciting to go for a long walk – he was always testing himself. We were on holiday in the Lake District once. He did the Three Tarns walk, completely on his own, at about 15.”

Space wasn’t particularly a passion, despite family days out at the Science Museum when they visited London. “He was interested in helicopters and flying. But as he grew older, learned about the Apollo missions and heard about the first man on the Moon, then it gripped him and he became interested in astronauts.”

A spacewalk would be the perfect Christmas present for Tim, but otherwise his day in orbit is due to be marked with a bacon sandwich and a Christmas pudding, from the menus concocted for his 173-day stint in space by Heston Blumenthal, – with the help of schoolchildren.