meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
Desert Island Discs

Tim Peake, astronaut

Desert Island Discs

BBC

Society & Culture, Music Commentary, Music, Personal Journals

4.413.7K Ratings

🗓️ 24 January 2021

⏱️ 35 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Major Tim Peake, is an Army Air Corps officer and a European Space Agency astronaut. He was the first British astronaut to carry out a spacewalk. As a child, he became interested in aviation, visiting air shows with his father and learning to fly as a teenager, although space travel was not yet a passion. He joined the school Cadet Corps and found he was in his element. From there he progressed to the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, and then into the Army Air Corps in 1992. His military career included service in Northern Ireland and the former Yugoslavia, and he spent several years based in Germany where he met his wife Rebecca. He qualified as a helicopter pilot in 1992, and later became a helicopter instructor. He spent time in the USA, learning to fly the Apache attack helicopter, before becoming a test pilot in 2005. In 2008, he answered an advert from the European Space Agency looking for astronauts. The following year he became one of six successful candidates, chosen from more than 8000 hopefuls. Years of training followed, involving anything from basic dentistry to underwater 'spacewalking', and in December 2015 he headed to the International Space Station for six months. After his return, Tim moved back to the UK to work with industry and engage in outreach work while he awaits his next space mission. He lives in Hampshire with his wife and two sons. DISC ONE: Don’t Stop Me Now by Queen DISC TWO: It Must Be Love by Madness DISC THREE: Waterloo Sunset by The Kinks DISC FOUR: Mr. Blue Sky by Electric Light Orchestra DISC FIVE: Word Up! By Gun DISC SIX: I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing by Aerosmith DISC SEVEN: Glycerine by Bush DISC EIGHT: Always Look on the Bright Side of Life by Monty Python BOOK CHOICE: An atlas LUXURY ITEM: A telescope CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing by Aerosmith Presenter Lauren Laverne Producer Sarah Taylor

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

BBC Sounds Music Radio Podcasts

0:04.4

Hello, I'm Lauren LeVern and this is the Desert Island Discs podcast.

0:08.2

Every week I ask my guests to choose the 8 tracks, book and luxury they'd want to take

0:12.9

with them if they were cast away to a desert island.

0:16.3

And for right reasons, the music is shorter than the original broadcast.

0:20.8

I hope you enjoy listening.

0:42.6

My cast away this week is Major Tim Peek, Army Air Corps officer and European Space Agency

0:48.4

astronaut.

0:49.4

He was the first British astronaut to complete a space walk wearing a Union Jack, along

0:54.3

with his science experiments.

0:55.9

In his six months aboard the International Space Station, he became the first astronaut

1:00.1

to present the singer Adele with a Brit Award and to run along with the London Marathon.

1:04.8

His cosmic adventures started a little closer to Earth however, in the skies above West

1:09.7

Born Common in Sussex.

1:11.5

There, his childhood fascination with model aircraft took flight.

1:15.3

He is, he says, an incorrigible presser of buttons.

1:18.9

His affinity with machines and the love of the outdoors led him to life as an army cadet

1:23.7

and a successful military career.

1:26.5

He had been an army pilot for nearly 20 years and was looking for a new adventure when in

1:31.4

2008 his wife Rebecca spotted the kind of job ad you don't see every day for the post

1:36.9

of astronaut.

1:38.4

Over 8,000 hopeful to plied, he was one of just six to make the cut.

...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.