Britain's latest man in space: Godspeed to Tim Peake on his first spaceflight

Britain’s latest man in space, Tim Peake, has The Right Stuff, that sine qua non of the first generation astronauts in Tom Wolfe’s book of that title. You need to have that mixture of sang froid and daring to go into space because, objectively speaking, it’s downright terrifying: 300 tons of jet fuel exploding under your backside, taking you up to where there is neither air, nor water, nor life of any kind, only Russian food. And a great view.

Perhaps this is why Britain has always been somewhat lukewarm about the whole subject. It’s not just sour grapes because the Russians and Americans initially carved space up between themselves. It’s because – for all the talk of the next great adventure, compared to the Americas, Mount Everest, the Antarctic, the wastes of the Gobi desert – there’s nothing there.

We knew that already. For all the fascinating scientific facts that can be learned from the experience, it will never be home from home. As the Green Party slogan observes, there is no planet B. And the desperate nature of the endeavour is reflected in the British pop music which it inspired. As The Rolling Stones said: “It’s so very lonely, 2,000 light years from home.”

If anyone was to bring us round, however, Major Tim is the man to do it. He comes from Emsworth, one of the prettiest villages in the Home Counties. He’s a redhead, one of the first in space. He has an endearing grin, and is both modest and articulate. He’s spent a week in a Sardinian cave, two weeks in an underwater base off Florida, but, according to his father, the toughest challenge he has faced in his journey to reach for the stars has been learning Russian.

He is by no means the first Brit in space, but he will be the first to live and work in space and fly the Union flag on a British government-funded programme. So he’s our man up there. Best of luck to him.