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British astronaut Tim Peake shares beautiful pictures of the UK from space

'I'd rather be up here... but only just'

Chloe Farand
Sunday 31 January 2016 19:03 GMT
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Tim Peake took amazing pictures of London by night from the International Space Station, where he is posted for six months
Tim Peake took amazing pictures of London by night from the International Space Station, where he is posted for six months (Tim Peake )

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British astronaut Tim Peake has shared a series of stunning pictures of Britain, as seen by night from his current home on the International Space Station (ISS).

The ISS was travelling over Europe on Saturday night and Mr Peake took pictures of the illuminated city from space, before sharing them with his 400,000 Twitter followers.

Posting a picture of the distinctive London landscape at midnight, the 43-year-old wrote: "I'd rather be up here... but only just!"

Mr Peake is the first astronaut to travel to space representing Britain. He did so as part of a European Space Agency mission which will see him stationed on the ISS for six months.

He has been in space since 15 December with Russian commander Yuri Malenchenko and American Tim Kopra.

On 15 January, he became the first Briton to conduct a space walk outside the station in order to conduct routine repairs.

Mr Peake was part of a mission to replace a faulty solar unit on the station.

The attempt was ultimately aborted after water leaked into his suit.

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