Major Tim Peake set to watch England's Six Nations opener with Scotland on International Space Station
The 43-year-old became the first astronaut representing the United Kingdom to perform a spacewalk last month
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British astronaut Major Tim Peake is set to make more history this weekend when he watches England’s Six Nations opener against Scotland from the International Space Station (ISS).
The 43-year-old became the first astronaut representing the United Kingdom to perform a spacewalk last month but the operation was cut short when water leaked into US colleague Colonel Tim Kopra's helmet.
Peake will be hoping for no mishaps this time around as the BBC and European Space Agency plan to feed live coverage of the match to him 400km above the Earth.
“I know that space is a hostile environment, but Murrayfield, for the old Calcutta Cup, that’s a whole different matter,” Peake said.
“And Scotland has a fire in their belly; you could hear their World Cup rage from up here in space… May the best team win! Come on England!”
Tomorrow’s beam-up to the ISS is the first time the BBC have ever attempted such a feat and will allow Peake to join the rest of the nation in witnessing the start of Eddie Jones’s new era as coach.
Philip Bernie, head of TV sport for the BBC said: “We’ve always tried to push the boundaries of broadcasting at the BBC, and streaming to space is an exciting first for us. We knew Tim was a massive rugby fan and now he can join the rest of the nation watching Scotland v England in the Six Nations.”
Nearly 10 million viewers watched the final day of 2015’s Six Nations, which saw England come within inches of clinching a famous championship victory only to fall at the final hurdle as they failed to build the 26-point gap needed over France to pip Ireland to the title.
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