British astronaut Tim Peake poses in his spacesuit aboard the International Space Station on January 11, 2015. PHOTO: REUTERS
LONDON: Tim Peake became the first astronaut representing Britain to carry out a space walk when he left the International Space Station (ISS) on Friday, generating huge interest back in his homeland.
"Good luck to @astro_timpeake on today's space walk. The country will be watching you make history," Prime Minister David Cameron wrote on Twitter.
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Peake, 43, a former army major, blasted off to the ISS as part of a six-month mission for the European Space Agency (ESA) in December, becoming the first Briton in space since Helen Sharman traveled on a Soviet spacecraft for eight days in 1991 and the first to do so under a British flag.
British astronaut Tim Peake leaves the International Space Station to take part in his first spacewalk January 15, 2015. PHOTO: REUTERSPeake's mission has attracted widespread attention in Britain with his space walk beamed live on news channels.
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The ESA said the space walk would last about six hours as Peake and NASA astronaut Tim Kopra replaced a failed Solar Shunt Unit, which transfers electrical power generated by solar panels.
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