Nicola Blackwood: Let's hope that Tim Peake inspires our next generation of UK astronauts

LISTENING to Major Tim Peake's press conference on Tuesday, I was struck by how humble (and, dare I say, down to Earth) he sounded for someone who had just spent the last 186 days on the International Space Station.

Asked by a journalist what he would tell pupils at his old primary school, Major Peake replied: "I think the message to take away is that you're looking at a boy who went to Westbourne Primary School who left school at the age of 19 with three below average A-levels and I've just got back from a six-month mission to space."

"My message to them is: 'Don't let anyone tell you you can't do anything'."

In his six months on board the ISS, Major Peake accomplished more than most of us can hope to achieve in the same time here on Earth. When he wasn't strapped to a treadmill and running the London Marathon or leaving the comparative comfort of the ISS to undertake space walks, Major Peake was conducting over 250 experiments in what was essentially a unique scientific research facility.

In my view, however, his most remarkable feat was making space accessible to millions of us across the UK. Over the last 186 days, Major Peake has beamed into our homes, our classrooms and even Parliament. Over 24 million watched him take off for the ISS, and his educational outreach while on board has been nothing short of superb. Tim's mission has made space, and science more broadly, come alive in schools across the country.

Many of those opportunities are right here in Oxfordshire. Culham Science Centre hosts companies like Reaction Engines who are responsible for building the world’s first air-breathing rocket engine. This is an engine that could be used in space planes, the likes of which could take off from the proposed UK ‘spaceport’. Nearby, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus is home to around 200 science and research-based organisations, including a sizeable cluster of space and satellite companies. When asked about Harwell by Herald reporter Georgina Campbell, Major Peake described it as the 'central hub in the UK of what we are doing in so many areas in our space centre'.

I am hopeful that, in the years ahead, we will start to see a ‘Tim Peake effect' – a sharp increase in the number of young people choosing to study STEM subjects and entering STEM careers.

Major Peake’s mission has captured our imaginations and inspired a generation. It is vital that this enthusiasm for space is harnessed and is used to foster an enduring public interest in the UK’s space sector and the opportunities it holds.