Renowned Astronaut Tim Peake visited Westholme on Wednesday 9 September, to talk about his new book: ‘The Cosmic Diary of A Future Space Explorer’. This special visit was arranged by our friends at events company Book, Bean and Ice Cream, and it was eagerly attended by both students and staff alike. The event was for our own Prep students and visiting schools across two sessions, one in the morning and one after lunch.

Tim arrived in the morning and met with Principal, Mr Taylor, Head of Prep, Mrs Hornby, and several of our Prep students. Afterwards, he made the short walk over to the Croston Theatre to be interviewed on stage by ex Radio Lancashire presenter, John Gillmore. The Theatre was packed out with children from Westholme Prep and local primary schools, and the excitement in the audience was palpable.

Firstly, after a brief introduction, Tim was asked questions about his book, which follows on from his previous book, ‘The Cosmic Diary of our Incredible Universe’. Tim described his new book as giving the reader a brief summary of ‘where we are now’ in terms of space exploration, and goes on to give a ‘best guess’ for where we will be in the future. He uses the incredible feat of landing on the moon as a starting point and then progresses to looking at where future space missions could next take us, such as possible voyages to Mars or even the Moons of Jupiter. The possibilities seem apparently as endless and vast as space itself.

The book helps us remember we are creatures of nature who have been forged out of the universe, and that by exploring the universe and expanding our knowledge, we can further our own understanding of who we really are and where we have come from. He also said that the most valuable thing in the universe is the human brain and highlighted some of the amazing feats that we can achieve with it (space travel being one of them!). Tim told us how us how his own interest in space started at a young age, when he would look up at the sky and ask himself all of the big questions about how we came to be here. It was great to see how easy it was for him to relate to all of our young students and say that he himself had asked many of the questions that our students do themselves. Everyone starts somewhere.

Tim also answered questions about his own (well documented) feats in space exploration, becoming the first British astronaut to visit the International Space Station in 2015, and delighted the audience with many stories of his time in space and the various oddities that happen there due to the difference in gravity. He ran a marathon on a treadmill in the ISS whilst in zero gravity, and spoke about the effects that the climate in space has on the human body. He even grew 2 inches during his time in space due to the laxity of his muscles and ligaments with zero gravitational forces being applied on them. Since he has come back down to Earth, Tim has focussed on becoming an ambassador for STEM education after retiring from active space duty.

It was a fascinating talk and Tim was exceptionally kind with his time afterwards, answering many questions in the Q&A from the crowd and taking pictures with all of the students who had come to watch. Each student was also able to take home a signed copy of his book.

After the lunchtime session had finished, Tim visited our Prep building to walk down a special space walkway that the students had created in the corridor leading down to the library. Students had hung stars from the ceiling and even created small planets and stars for Tim to reminisce about!Mrs Hornby had even arranged for Mr Peake to be added to our visitor board, and we had a special note on the wall to signify Tim’s arrival at Westholme. Students we able to pose for a photo with Tim at this milestone moment.

Finally, Tim spoke to Prep students in the Hall. He answered more questions that were asked by our students and presented competition prizes that had been organised as part of a trip that the students had taken a few weeks ago to visit Alston Observatory. After a long day, Tim bid his farewells and was thoroughly thanked by everyone for having visited us. It was a visit to remember for many of our students and we’re sure that they will leave feeling inspired and motivated to succeed. Thank you Tim!