An astronomical challenge: Tim Peake on taking a trip to infinity and beyond

Having been the first UK astronaut to visit the International Space Station after years of training, Tim Peake has taken on his next challenge — trying to take on the enormity of the Universe’s really big questions for younger readers. Mike McGrath-Bryan takes a giant leap to find out more

Tim Peake: One of the things that we have to do as astronauts is to be ambassadors for space. It’s a hugely privileged position to be in, to go and have a space mission.

It’s one thing to take years of your life learning to be an astronaut, learning to fly spacecraft, undertaking gruelling endurance training, and preparing to live aboard a space station, but, in its own way, trying to break down for inquiring younger minds the big questions that have led humanity to the age of space and technology is also a challenging task.

Former European Space Agency astronaut Tim Peake is in chipper form on the other end of a Zoom connection on a busy press day, chatting about his latest kids’ non-fiction book, The Cosmic Diary of Our Incredible Universe, a tome that seeks to explain the big jumps in humanity’s progress, from the Big Bang to the current day.