Tim Peake

Speaker 20:01

BBC Sounds, music, radio, podcasts.

Presenter0:04

Hello, I'm Lauren Laverne and this is the Desert Island Discs podcast. Every week I ask my guests to choose the eight tracks, book and luxury they'd want to take with them if they were castaway to a desert island. And, for rights reasons, the music is shorter than the original broadcast. I hope you enjoy listening.

Presenter0:42

My castaway this week is Major Tim Peake, Army Air Corps officer and European Space Agency astronaut. He was the first British astronaut to complete a spacewalk wearing a union jack. Along with his science experiments, in his six months aboard the International Space Station, he became the first astronaut to present the singer Adele with a Brit Award and to run along with the London Marathon. His cosmic adventures started a little closer to Earth, however, in the skies above Westbourne Common in Sussex. There, his childhood fascination with model aircraft took flight. He is, he says, an incorrigible presser of buttons. His affinity with machines and love of the outdoors led him to life as an Army cadet and a successful military career. He had been an Army pilot for nearly 20 years and was looking for a new adventure when in 2008 his wife Rebecca spotted the kind of job ad you don't see every day for the post of astronaut. Over 8,000 hopefuls applied. He was one of just six to make the cut. Tim Peake, welcome to Desert Island Discs.

Tim Peake1:45

Hello, Lauren, it's such an honor to be on the show, so thank you for having me.

Presenter1:49

Well, Tim, your description of the skills required to do the job you do, be an astronaut, is, ironically enough, quite down to earth. You say you have to be a jack of all trades and hopefully a master of some. And I know that personality is an important part of the puzzle too. What kind of temperament does the job require?

Tim Peake2:06

You've got to be somebody who's calm under pressure, somebody who gets on very well with other people, you know, good communication skills and teamwork. All of that is tested during the year-long selection process. But ultimately, you know, when I was going through that, I was interviewed by Jean-François Clairvoy, a French astronaut, and I asked him afterwards, I said, Drew, why did you say yes? He said, Well, I always just ask myself a question: Would I like to spend six months in space with this person? And if the answer is yes, then you get the ticket in the box.

Presenter2:32

But if the aha

Presenter2:35

So of course the spacewalk that you did was your highlight of your time in space. I mean I'm struggling to imagine the intensity of an experience like that. Can you describe it?

Tim Peake2:46

It's incredible. I mean, there's a lot of apprehension and nervousness beforehand, clearly. I was going to the cupola window and I was looking out and I was trying to visualize my roots and think where I'd be going, and handholds and how to get around this incredible structure. You've got to have so much concentration not to make a mistake. The thing about a spacewalk is lots of things can go wrong in space, and many times they're not your fault. On a spacewalk, if something goes wrong, it probably is your fault because the scope for human error is incredible. So you're worried about, you know, am I going to mess up? But when you get out there in that environment, it's just so exhilarating. I mean, there are moments of adrenaline, clearly, when you're, you know, dropping out the airlock hatch and you're looking down below 400 kilometers and there's planet Earth passing by beneath you. And you look the other way and you just see the universe stretching out to infinity. It's quite overwhelming.

Presenter3:42

I know that while you were on board the International Space Station, you started cleaning your teeth while looking out of the observatory windows, and that became a little kind of ritual for you. What was your view then?

Tim Peake3:52

So I'd just float to the window and just brush my teeth and look at the earth passing by. And it doesn't matter if you've you know, you're passing over somewhere you've seen before. Every time you look out, there's something new and something different to see, different lighting conditions, different weather. Earth is just such a beautiful planet to look at from space, so it was never boring to look down.

Presenter4:11

Do you have any kind of favourite spots, things that you'd look out for? I saw the Northern Lights on your highlight reel. Incredible.

Tim Peake4:16

The aurora is incredible just because it's so mysterious and otherworldly. It's a very eerie experience seeing that from above. I fell in love with Patagonia. It's just so beautiful. The ice fields in South America are just wonderful. And also deserts are beautiful. The Sahara, Australia as a continent, they're very orange and so they're very colorful seen from space.

Tim Peake4:39

Yeah.

Presenter4:39

Did you listen to much music while you were in space to pass the time?

Tim Peake4:42

I did. We would listen to music when we were working out, either on the the treadmill or the biking machine that we have up there. So I had a whole playlist that I had up there with me.

Presenter4:52

Well, we better dive into your music today and find out whether any of that uh playlist is is going with you to the desert island. Let's start with your first disc, Tim. Tell us about choosing this one and what it is.

Tim Peake5:02

My first disc is Queen. Don't Stop Me Now. I've been a huge fan of Queen all my life, but we're allowed to choose three tracks before we launch to space. They're actually played into the Sawyer's capsule when you're sat there in the five minutes before launch. And it's designed to just take your mind off what's about to happen. So I thought, you know, what could be better than listening to Don't Stop Me Now just before you launch into space? It still makes the hairs stand up on the back of my neck every time I hear it.

Speaker 25:29

Shooting star leaping through the sky like a tiger Buffy in the laws of gravity I'm a racing car passing by like Lady Gaydiver I'm gonna go, go, go, there's no stopping me I'm firing through the sky 200 degrees, a smile they call me Mr. Fire and Pi

Speaker 25:53

I'm driving at the speed of light, I wanna make a supersonic man out of you

Speaker 26:00

Stop me now! I'm having such a good time.

Presenter6:04

Queen, and don't stop me now. We have lift off, Major Timpeak. So Queen, I mean a a perfect choice for going out into space, but actually you were in contact with the band while you were out there.

Tim Peake6:15

That's right, yeah. We're allowed to make a couple of calls from the space station to people we really want to speak to. And one of those for me was Brian Mape. So I rang him up from the space station and we had a video call, me and my crewmates, and it was wonderful. He'd just been playing in a concert. We took him on a tour of the space station and he played a little music for us live, so it was fantastic.

Presenter6:34

That was fantastic.

Presenter6:35

Now, Timpik, there's a very poignant photo of you, all decked out in your space suit. You'll know it, making a heart sign with your white gloved hands through the the bus window to your boys as you bid them farewell before your launch. I wonder what was going through your mind at that moment.

Tim Peake6:51

It's the hardest thing ever to do is to say goodbye. It's even harder when you know that you're putting yourself in harm's way. I knew it was going to be tough on Rebecca and my two boys Thomas and Oliver with me being away for six months. And at that point you're just desperately thinking, let everything go smoothly and don't let this be the last time that I'm going to see you.

Presenter7:11

It was very strange seeing that photo now as well, because obviously it has that resonance. There have been so many images of people trying to get messages to their loved ones through windows lately when we've all been isolated. I wonder about your experience of managing anxiety and managing isolation, and you must have thought about that in the the past few months of lockdown.

Tim Peake7:31

I thought about it an awful lot, and we're so fortunate as astronauts. You know, we have so much training and preparation to go and live in isolation. And of course, everybody's been launched into a year of various lockdowns with no preparation, no training, no guidance or advice as to what you can do to make your life easier. We stick to structure and routine on the space station to help us, to make sure everybody knows what to do, when to do it, to manage expectations, to avoid conflict. We spend a week living in a cave, 12 days underwater, all of this to help us deal with these circumstances. So my thoughts have been with everybody this year has been trying to deal with difficult circumstances and also that separation from loved ones where you can't go and just have a face-to-face conversation. You can't have human contact with people.

Speaker 17:51

The help

Presenter8:17

Time for some more music right now, Tim Peak. What are we going to hear for disc number two?

Tim Peake8:21

I have chosen Madness, It Must Be Love. And this was actually the first single that was given to me by my grandmother in 1972. It was a vinyl 45 RPM. And it wasn't by Madness then, of course. It was by Labby Sefra, who wrote the original It Must Be Love. So it was a very special song, and I love what Madness have done with it, with their version. So this is my second track.

Speaker 18:28

Mm-hmm.

Speaker 28:45

As soon as I wake up, every night

Speaker 28:48

Every day.

Speaker 28:51

I know that it's you I need To take the blues away

Speaker 28:57

It must be love, love,

Speaker 29:03

It must be love, love, love.

Speaker 29:07

Nothing more, nothing less, nothing severe.

Presenter9:12

Madness with their version of It Must Be Love, Major Tim Peake. Now, Tim, you've seen the world from an extraordinary vantage point, but you were the wrong generation, I think, to be caught up in the space race of the sixties. You were only born in nineteen seventy two, so you missed all that. What did you love as a young boy? What were your passions?

Tim Peake9:30

I love watching the shuttle missions, but it did seem something that we weren't involved in. You know, it wasn't something we were doing. And for me, it was all about flying. Just passionate about aviation. Not quite sure where it all came from. My father used to take me to air shows. I love watching the World War II vintage aircraft coming in and doing their displays. So I think that's really where this passion for aviation grew from.

Presenter9:53

Your mum Angela was a midwife and your dad Nigel was a newspaper journalist at the local paper. How would you describe your childhood?

Tim Peake10:01

I've described my childhood in my book as ordinary, which I don't mean to be condescending in any way, because I think an ordinary childhood is very much underrated and actually incredibly hard to achieve. Because I think what I mean is that it was very stable, it was very loving. We lived in the same house all my life growing up, but we enjoyed holidays, camping trips away up to the Yorkshire Dales or the North York moors. You know, I had a very, very brilliant time growing up with lots of friends in my sort of local housing estate.

Presenter10:33

And you also struck me, reading about your description of yourself as a young lad as just very game. You would give things a go. You describe yourself as quite an average student, but you would it seems like you would try pretty much anything as an extracurricular activity.

Tim Peake10:46

Yes, and when I was really younger, I was bouncing around, you know, doing lots of different things. And I guess I was trying to find my way, often following my elder sister. If she was into something, I would give that a go too. And then in my teenage years, I found the cadet force at school, and that was my saving grace, really. I think that packaged everything that I loved into one bundle. And whether it was hiking or kayaking or going on adventure training weekends and even flying with the Air Force section, that was for me what set me off on the right path.

Presenter11:16

It's time for our next track, Tim Peak. What are we going to hear and why are you taking this with you today?

Tim Peake11:21

My next track is The Kinks and this is Waterloo Sunset and when I was 18 years old I gained a flying scholarship that was given to me by the Royal Air Force so I went down to Compton Abbas Airfield and spent 30 hours flying Cessna aircraft and I did my first solo just you know after a few hours and I came back after that sortie and I was so elated on such a high you know taking an aircraft up at 18 years old by yourself and I landed and this was playing in the bar next to the airfield so I sat down with a cold beer with my mates and listened to Waterloo Sunset so this just takes me back to my first solo.

Speaker 212:00

Every day I look at the world from my window

Speaker 212:09

Chilli chilli is the evening time Waterless sunset sudden sunset

Speaker 212:19

Uh

Speaker 212:20

Terry meets Julie, Waterloo Station, every Friday.

Presenter12:28

The Kinks and Waterloo Sunset Timpeague. So you described yourself there having a bit of an aimless phase at secondary school. You know, you were casting about trying to find your way until you joined the Army Cadets and there you just flew, you know, literally in the end. What was the appeal? What did you like about it?

Tim Peake12:47

Do you know it was probably the uniform at first? I thought, oh, that looks interesting and exciting. You know, at the weekends, I was hearing these stories about where they were going off to do camps and coming back and going on trekking adventures and hiking and kayaking in our local canal next to the high score there. And it just seemed to be such fun.

Presenter13:07

So you'd found the thing that you loved. I wonder what your expectations were about how you might pursue that. You you love flying, but what do you do with it when you're a teenager in in

Tim Peake13:15

Just

Presenter13:15

Take

Tim Peake13:16

It's a difficult path to follow, and there are many hurdles to pass. And of course, you know, many people who want to become pilots don't make it for many different reasons. Medical being one of them, and I had no idea at the time if I was going to make the grade. I think it was brave of my parents to really push me down that route because I think they realized the odds were that I might not make it as a pilot. But I wanted to give it a best shot. And because I was loving being in the Army cadets, you know, you put Army and Flying together, then the Army Air Corps seemed a natural choice. And that's the path I decided to take.

Presenter13:49

This is number four. What are we going to hear next and why have you chosen it?

Tim Peake13:52

This is ELO, Mr. Blue Sky. This takes me back to Sandhurst actually, and we were just monumentally tough. And it was after one of those really difficult, week-long exercises. We'd been on Salisbury Plain digging in our trenches, and we'd had very, very little sleep. It had been freezing cold. And we came back. I went to my room, and this was on the radio, and I just lay there, fully clothed, listened to it with a smile on my face, and closed my eyes and woke up several hours later, still fully closed.

Speaker 214:26

Yeah. Sky, please tell us why you had to pad away for so long.

Speaker 214:33

Where did we go wrong?

Speaker 214:36

Mr. Blue Sound, please tell us why you had to paddle with us so long Where did we go?

Presenter14:53

ELO and Mr. Blue Sky. So, Major Timpy, you went to Sandhurst to train to be an officer, as you mentioned, and despite its reputation to the contrary, you say it's not posh at all and that everyone's treated the same and that's abysmally. I think it is.

Tim Peake15:06

It is abysmal.

Presenter15:07

Yeah, that's far from you.

Tim Peake15:08

Uh

Presenter15:08

Tell us a little bit about arriving there and you know, the the training starts straight away and 100 miles an hour by the sound effect.

Tim Peake15:16

You all arrive and everybody's carrying an ironing board under their arms. It's one of the things that you have to bring with you, and it's really weird to see all these cars turning up, and officer cadets coming out with ironing boards under their arms and being whisked away to their rooms. And meanwhile, the parents are being accosted with lovely coffee and cake and lectures by the commanding officer telling them how wonderful this establishment is and how it's going to bring out the best of their young children. And we're all being beasted upstairs, being told to get our red track suits on and down to the parade square in quick time. And it's a baptism by fire.

Presenter15:48

It almost have felt a world away from the upbringing that you described, you know, that kind of very safe, very predictable, loving suburban environment.

Tim Peake15:57

You do change an awful lot. You're pushed to your limit and that's the point. You know, anybody who's going to break, then they find that out at least in the first five weeks, if not during the rest of the year. And if you can't hack it, then it's probably not the career for you. So, you know, you do learn an awful lot about yourself, about how deep your reserves are and how much you can push yourself when the going gets tough. And I always found that really interesting to just try and push myself further and further.

Presenter16:26

By nineteen ninety two, Tim, you were twenty years old and you became second Lieutenant Peake, and you were then deployed to Northern Ireland. You described the experience as eye opening and difficult to handle. How did you feel once you got there?

Tim Peake16:40

You're quite nervous. You're aware that you've gone through this training. And of course, my end point, my ambition, was to become a pilot. But this was all about leading men as it was back there, the Royal Green Jackets, an all-male platoon. And you're going to be tested, and you're going to be tested in an operational environment. You know, not you're going to be tested somewhere where the results matter and people's lives are at stake. So you have to step up to the plate. So there's a degree of apprehension about what you're about to do and what you're about to undertake. But of course, you've got brilliant people around you, and you've got experienced platoon sergeants that can help you, and platoon corporals as well. So the green jackets were a fantastic bunch to work with, but very, very challenging as well. I mean, the soldiers were all very tough and very street-wise, and there's a young, fresh-faced second lieutenant out of Santos. That's a steep learning curve.

Presenter17:30

Yeah. How did you ascend it?

Tim Peake17:33

I think you have to lead by example. You have to show people that you've you've got what it takes and that if you can prove yourself to them, then you will find that people will follow you and they will respect you for who you are as opposed to just the the rank that you might have on your shoulder.

Presenter17:50

How dangerous was the work that you were doing?

Tim Peake17:52

It was varied. There were times when it was very dangerous. You know, there were times when we were shot at across the border. There were times where we had bombs on the roadside next to us that hadn't gone off. So we were constantly aware that there was this threat that was underlying. And we said, you know, the terrorists only have to be lucky once. And as soldiers, you have to be lucky every day you're on patrol. So you were very aware that you were in this environment where you had to be as vigilant as you possibly could be.

Presenter18:22

Tim, we've got to take a break for some more music. This is disc number five. What have you chosen?

Tim Peake18:26

Disc number five is word up, but I've gone for the gun version. Obviously, Cameo did this in 1986 when I was growing up. I was 14 years old, but I was listening to the gun version as I was driving over to Gutesloe, and this was after I passed my Army Pilot's Corps, so I had my wings and I was going to my first posting. It needs to be played loud, and it typifies the four years of partying that I did as a young army pilot in Guttesloe.

Speaker 218:55

Everybody say when you hear a clown you got to get it

Speaker 219:10

It's like a DJ!

Speaker 219:12

Being a flag.

Speaker 219:14

It's done.

Presenter19:22

Gun and word up, Major Tim Peake. Now, after you qualified as a helicopter instructor, you then spent three years with the US Army flying Apache helicopters, and I know that you were stationed there when nine eleven took place and volunteered to assist the US Army. What are your memories of that time?

Tim Peake19:40

Professionally, that was amazing because you know this was a real step up going to fly the Apache. It was the most sophisticated helicopter that was around at the time, and certainly far more sophisticated than the Lynx and the Gazelle that we were flying in the British Army. So, to be able to go and take my flying to a different level, and also that cultural experience of operating with a foreign military and learning as much as you could about what they were doing. So, professionally, it was incredibly rewarding. And I was newly married at the time as well, so it was a big adventure that Rebecca, my wife, and I were embarking on. Then, of course, to be there at 9/11 at the same time was an incredible moment for the whole of the United States when they went through this transformation, really, of realizing that there was this enormous threat on their home territory. And that involved us flying Apaches, that involved us preparing for operations in Afghanistan.

Presenter20:33

The Apache is an attack helicopter. I mean, psychologically for you, was that a mental shift that you had to make?

Tim Peake20:38

It was a big mental shift, yes, because my role before had been as a gazelle pilot, reconnaissance, light helicopter, casualty evacuation, moving people around the battlefield, under slung loads. And the Apache has one role, one role only. It's an attack helicopter. So you have to get into the mentality of that. And the Americans, of course, have a slightly different approach to that. And it's very gung-ho. And it's all about being a gun pilot. But of course, the reality of that is you do need to prepare people properly for the role that you're expecting them to carry out. And it's fair to say as well that it doesn't suit everybody. Some people will take themselves off the course because that's not the job for them to do. But I was there to learn as much as I could about this new aircraft. And knowing that we were going to buy this for the British Army, it was also a valuable opportunity to bring that experience back to the UK.

Presenter21:31

How did you feel about it, what you were doing, that idea of it's a machine that exists to destroy things?

Tim Peake21:36

I never, I mean, truly felt comfortable about having to do that role if push had come to shove, which thankfully it didn't for me. But I think I reconciled with myself with the fact that if it had to happen, then I was there to do that. You know, when you join the military, you make that decision very early in your military career, really, that you're there as, you know, to defend what you believe are the principles of democracy, to keep people safe, that your loved ones are safe and also our nation's safe. And so when you make that decision, you really put yourself in that mindset that's required. I think actually becoming a gun pilot, as we would say, attack helicopter pilot, it takes it to another level. But it really was something I decided earlier on.

Presenter22:20

You came back to the UK to train British air crew before eventually being selected onto the Empire Test Pilot School, and that only takes one candidate from the Army each year. Your dream job, and I would imagine, a risky job.

Tim Peake22:33

It was my dream job. Yes, being a test pilot is quite risky at times. And when I was flying Apaches with the Americans, I was really starting to develop that passion for becoming a test pilot because we were introducing new things on the aircraft. It was cutting-edge technology. And I was loving that. I thought, hang on, this is wonderful. And that really sowed the seeds for wanting to go down this path. And I was just delighted when I got selected. Being a test pilot is all about risk management, really. You try and analyze the risk and you try and mitigate it as much as possible. But at the end of the day, somebody has to take aircraft up and find out what they can do.

Presenter23:12

It's time for your next disc, Tim. What are we going to hear?

Tim Peake23:15

Aerosmith, I don't want to miss a thing. And this takes me back to spring 1999 when I was recently engaged to Rebecca and she had got posted out to Macedonia. She was part of the Kosovo operation. And so I was sending her a care package. And this kind of, I guess, it's a bit cheesy, but it's our song. And of course, I don't want to miss a thing was all about missing Rebecca and the time that I wasn't getting to spend with her.

Speaker 223:44

I don't wanna close my eyes I don't wanna fall asleep Cause I miss you baby And I don't wanna miss a fake Cause even when I dream of you The sweetest dream whenever do I still miss you baby And I don't wanna miss a fake

Presenter24:12

Aerosmith, and I don't want to miss a thing for your wife, Rebecca, Tim Peake. And she has an army background too, doesn't she? So does that make it easier for her to understand the periods that you have to spend away and your commitment to training?

Tim Peake24:26

She was with the Royal Logistical Corps. So I think that does help. She had been through the same training I had been through at Sandhurst, and she met me as a pilot, so she knew and understood the risks that I was taking. And that has definitely helped as I've gone through my test pilot career and my astronaut career.

Presenter24:44

Now Tim, as well as being an astronaut, you're a qualified aquanaut. And as part of that training, you spent 12 days underwater. Now I'm going to quote you here, if you don't mind, on some of the detail on this, because it is worth it. You wrote, rare was the trip to the gazebo from which you didn't return with either a bloodied finger or a shredded butt cheek. Things that you simply don't expect you've signed up for when you apply for a job in space.

Tim Peake25:07

Yeah, it's funny. This underwater habitat aquarius, it's brilliant, it was 30 meters down on the ocean floor. And we dived down, popped up through the wet porch, and we were being shown around, and there was a Portaloo. And so everybody assumed, well, that's great, we've got the Portaloo. And then they said, but you don't use that until the very, very end when we're doing our decompression because otherwise it's going to stink the place out. So in order to go to the loo, you have to do this duck dive to a gazebo, like an upturned sort of eggshell that was a few meters away from the main habitat. And it's just a case of putting your swimsuit off and going for it in the ocean. It turns out that

Presenter25:42

It turns out that not all of the underwater creatures are are reticent about avoiding someone who's doing that.

Tim Peake25:47

Yeah, yeah. If that wasn't difficult and unpleasant enough, you've got the distraction from many, many different types of fish. You find fecal matter rather attractive and get very aggressive when they're coming in there. So it was always an adventure going to the Louvre.

Presenter26:00

Oh, man. Now tell me about the other end of your journey, so to speak. Having been away from Earth for six months, you'd orbited it, I think, two thousand seven hundred and twenty times. You came home. What struck you first when you landed?

Tim Peake26:15

First, you're relieved because the parachutes have opened and it's all gone well, but you're feeling dreadful. There's a lot of vertigo dizziness, and you're being dragged out of this capsule. So, people talk about those wonderful kind of first aromas of Earth after six months. The reality is the hatch opens, and the first aroma is scorched, burning grass, because your capsule has set fire to the prairie, and then you get this big, hairy Russian coming in to drag you out. And it's only really about 10 minutes after landing when you're sat in the chair and your head stops spinning slightly that you can really embrace the fresh air and the lovely smells and being reunited with planet Earth again.

Presenter26:55

What does gravity feel like, after six months away?

Tim Peake26:58

Incredibly heavy. It's unbelievable. You know, we just don't notice it. We're so used to it on Earth. But when you haven't had it for six months, you realize everything is so heavy. Somebody just passed me an iPad. I had to do a routine test on it, and this thing felt like a brick. And sleeping at night was really uncomfortable. You know, you feel the pressure on your body. So it took a lot of getting used to.

Presenter27:20

It's almost time to send you to the island, but a couple more discs to go before we do that. What's number seven and why are you taking it with you?

Tim Peake27:27

Track number seven is Bush and its glycerine and this again it's one of those iconic moments where I was just about to deploy to Bosnia on a six-month mission and my great Irish friend Philip McCabe and I decided to take an impromptu holiday to California just before deploying to Bosnia and we were driving along the California highway on the way to Santa Barbara and Bush glycerine came on and this just brings me back to those happy memories.

Speaker 227:54

Why everything go wide?

Speaker 227:58

Everything's grey, now you're here, now you're away, I don't wanna miss

Speaker 228:06

Remember that, I'll never forget where you're at.

Speaker 228:14

Don't let the days go by

Speaker 228:22

Guess a ring.

Presenter28:29

Bush and glycerin. Major Tim Peake, you have, as we've heard today, achieved many things that few people will ever get to do, ever get to experience. I wonder if you have any advice for people out there who might be listening to this who have set their sights on a dream that statistically seems pretty distant, almost impossible.

Tim Peake28:49

The important thing, and it's great to have dreams and it's great to be able to set your sight on them, is to never give up, to constantly work towards it, but also to enjoy the journey that takes you there. That's probably the most important advice I always give, because then it doesn't matter, even if statistically, you know, it's very unlikely you're going to make it. If you're enjoying the journey there, then you will have a fantastic time. Other opportunities might come up. And if you do end up achieving your dream, then absolutely fantastic. If you don't end up achieving it, you'll end up doing something equally as good.

Presenter29:25

And do you still have dreams? Do you still have things that you would like to achieve and haven't yet?

Tim Peake29:30

There are certainly places I'd like to travel to. I'd like to have family adventures with my boys, my wife, and go to some of these places that I've seen from space. So I think at the moment, my dreams are about focusing on them and trying to give them the same opportunities that I had.

Presenter29:46

Miss Patagonia on the list.

Tim Peake29:47

It certainly is, yes.

Presenter29:50

All right. It's uh time to cast you away. Before you get to Patagonia, you're off to the Desert Island. Now obviously, Tim, I don't want to burst into Starman, but you've been up there, floating in a tin can, far above the blue. So does life on the Desert Island as a castaway seem a relatively straightforward prospect to you?

Tim Peake30:06

It sounds like a nice prospect actually. One of the funny things was when I was taking photographs from the space station and I was looking down and there were these beautiful islands around Indonesia, South Pacific, and we'd take photos of them and we'd be thinking, Yeah, you know, when we get back, this is Holiday Island, this is where I'd like to go. And it's very enticing. You know, you haven't had a shower in six months, so when you're looking down at these beautiful tropical islands, it's very enticing view to look down on. So the prospect of being cast away on a desert island is quite appealing.

Speaker 130:28

Damn. No.

Presenter30:37

Oh, well, I'm very glad to hear that. What will you find on the island to occupy yourself?

Tim Peake30:41

You know, I think it's a time of of self reflection probably, but also my survival skills will hopefully kick in, so I'll be trying to get myself a nice shelter, get fire, get food, get everything set up just how I want it and enjoy myself.

Presenter30:56

All right, well, before we send you there, one more disc, if you would. What's your final choice today going to be?

Tim Peake31:01

It's Monty Python. Always look on the bright side of life. And it's just such a hilarious, upbeat and happy song. I'm a huge fan of Monty Python, and if you're going to be cast away on an island, then why not have this with you?

Speaker 231:15

I'm not sure if I can do it.

Speaker 231:17

Always look on the bright side of life.

Speaker 231:24

Always look on the light side of life.

Speaker 231:32

If life seems jolly rotten, there's something you've forgotten.

Speaker 231:36

And that's to laugh and smile and dance and sing.

Speaker 231:40

When you're feeling in the dumps, dumpy silly chumps. Just purse your lips and whistle, that's the thing.

Speaker 231:48

I

Presenter31:49

Monty Python, and always look on the bright side of life. So, Tim Peak, I'm going to cast you away to the island. I'm giving you the Bible and the complete works of Shakespeare to take with you, and you can have another book of your choice. What would you like?

Tim Peake32:02

I'm going to take with me a very large full colour world atlas because I love looking at maps and charts and I think with the complete works of Shakespeare that will keep me busy. Any other book you can read it once or multiple times but it's the same story. With an atlas there's always something new to discover and you know having seen the earth from space I just love looking through atlases and thinking of the stories they tell of all the places on earth.

Presenter32:29

Well, it's yours for the island. You can also have a luxury item, of course. What do you fancy?

Tim Peake32:34

I'm going to take a telescope with me, which probably isn't a surprise to many listeners. I love looking up at the stars. There's again, there's you know, who could possibly get bored with looking up at the stars? And with no light pollution on the desert island, it's a great place for a telescope.

Presenter32:48

And finally, you've shared eight inspiring tracks with us today, but which one would you save out of those if you had to?

Tim Peake32:55

I am going to save Aerosmith I don't want to miss a thing to remind me of my beautiful wife Rebecca.

Presenter33:02

Major Tim Peake, thank you very much for letting us hear your Desert Island discs.

Tim Peake33:06

Thank you.

Presenter33:20

Hello, I really hope you enjoyed that interview with Tim, and I certainly hope that he's very happy on his island looking up at the skies through his telescope. If you search through our programme archive, then you will hear Canadian astronaut Commander Chris Hadfield share his Desert Island discs too. And you'll also find other castaways who chose a telescope as their luxury, including Gary Kasparov, Maggie Adarian Pocock, and the actor Bob Hoskins. You can find their programmes if you search through BBC Sounds. Next time, my guest will be the chef Monica Galetti. I do hope you'll join us.

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