Soyuz in Peterborough Cathedral

I’m unclear why, exactly, Peterborough Cathedral was hosting an exhibition of Tim Peake’s Soyuz capsule, but it sounded like something well worth visiting, so Lucy and I made a journey to Peterborough. It was inspiring to see – it a shame that, understandably, touching wasn’t permitted as feeling it would have added greatly to the experience, but it was still something I was glad to have seen up (fairly) close.

Soyuz TMA-19M was launched on 15 December 2015 from Baikonur Cosmodrome, transporting three members of the Expedition 46 crew to the International Space Station, including British astronaut Tim Peake. It returned to Earth on 18 June 2016.
The parachute which helped slow the capsule is 25 metres in diameter
The craft endured temperatures of 1500°C as it re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere

We also experienced “Space Descent VR with Tim Peake”, a virtual reality adventure narrated by the man himself, with us appearing to be in in the pilot’s seat of a Soyuz capsule. It was intended to enable visitors to experience what it feels like to sit inside the Soyuz’s descent module as it returns to Earth: actually the start as we undocked from the ISS was the most spectacular section to my mind.

Leave a Reply