Have a look at the Video of the Week to see the great film that Mike Jubb has put together of the activities he and his fantastic team have undertaken with so many of you over the past year!! Massive thanks to all of them!!!!
The whole day at ESA was amazing. Getting the chance to hear about the training and see the facilities such as those at Envihab that are used to support European astronauts in their development was a fascinating and unique opportunity. The highlight of the day was undoubtedly meeting and hearing from not only Tim but very importantly some of the team involved in realising Tim’s space flight. Listening to them talk so passionately about their work, the challenges that needed to be overcome and how they went about this was inspirational.
Meeting other schools and hearing from pupils who had taken part in the challenge gave us a sense of participating in something greater than our individual school and pupil achievement. It has also encouraged us to continue to develop the Space to Earth Challenge with some of the ideas we heard from other schools.
Thanks for an unforgettable experience.
Teesside were the first to pilot the Space to Earth Challenge and with success from year one they offered a hugely successful summer school in year two. The enthusiasm of the whole Teesside team, Lukasz, Alex Kerry, Gary and Abigail English has been stellar. We couldn’t wish for better partners!
Here are the mission stats:
On Monday 4th of July me, Arvind, Mrs Goodwin and Mrs Webb went on a trip to Cologne in Germany, to go to the European Space Agency (ESA). 
At 5:00 am Arvind and I were collected from our houses by Mrs Goodwin. We were both incredibly tired! We then went in a taxi to Stanstead Airport and met up with Mrs Webb there. Continue reading
from Professor Simon Evetts, Blue Abyss’ Space Life Scientist
Studying astronauts helps us to understand why and how the body deals with low or zero gravity. With each mission, we get closer to working out the optimum exercise to keep astronauts “Earth-strong”, and Tim Peake’s return to Earth offers us an opportunity to advance this knowledge. It could take anything between six weeks to three years for some aspects of Tim’s body to return to pre-flight normality after 6 months in Space.
Space to Earth Challenge sponsor, Blue Abyss, tells us what Tim can expect over the coming weeks and months as he readapts to gravity. Read more here: http://www.blueabyss.uk/index.php/news-section/blue-abyss-blog/671-the-ups-and-downs-of-readapting-to-life-on-earth
16 June 2016
The President of the National Osteoporosis Society, Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cornwall, has helped to shine a light on osteoporosis once again by thanking British astronaut Tim Peake for his help in research into the condition during his time in space.
In a letter to Tim Peake, the Duchess said: “As president of the National Osteoporosis Society, a charity very dear to my heart, I am interested to know how your bones have stood up to space travel as I understand that astronauts can lose up to 10 per cent of bone density over six months.
“I have been told by the NOS that you will return home with invaluable research and data.
“It would be very interesting to know if what you learn could help change the lives of osteoporosis sufferers here on earth.”
She also wished him a safe journey home.
Looking at changes in Tim Peake’s bone structure could help detect the on-set of osteoporosis in large population groups, especially over 55s back here on earth.
MRI scans of his knees before and after the mission should show changes in the bone that mimic osteoporosis.
Tim Peake is due to land back on earth in Kazakhstan on 18th June. You can keep up to date with Tim’s journey back to Earth on Twitter by following @astro_timpeake.
Major Tim Peake completed the London Marathon from the International Space Station on April 24th, setting a new Guinness World Record. Running a 26-mile marathon is difficult enough for even the fittest of us, but running 250 miles above the Earth in zero-gravity has its own challenges. As Tim prepares to return to Earth, Space to Earth Challenge Sponsor, Blue Abyss, tells us what it really takes to run a marathon in Space. Whilst there are many challenges, you’ll be surprised to read that there is one big advantage too! Read more here: http://www.blueabyss.uk/index.php/news-section/blue-abyss-blog/666-pushing-the-boundaries-of-human-physical-performance-in-space
‘What would happen if a black hole gobbled up the ISS?’ Wow, and you were just worrying about what flavour Pizza to have when you got back to Earth, Tim!! Just one of the hundreds of questions that children have been asking me at primary schools throughout the UK. Their fascination with space, astronomy and Tim Peake has really taken off. Their imagination has been boundless with space projects, art-work, rockets, space suits.
It has been a great honour to be part of the Space2Earth Challenge team, led by Heather, with so many other enthusiastic participants, in particular the Tri Trust. Indeed yes, I have actually joined in the physical exercise challenge, and been on a bike, but apparently my legs were moving so fast that the photo just came out as a blurr!
Triton, the tardigarde has also joined us on some of our adventures. Tim’s support from space has been so important, we’ve shared his adventures, his training, his spacewalk and his beautiful photos of Earth, sunsets and the aurora. I could not possibly list all of the wonderful encounters with the children or all of their questions. I usually go home from a school pretty exhausted but also very happy.
One young lady said ‘I have two questions: How will the Sun die? When did you get interested in science?’ Great questions. Our aim has simply been to work with Tim and the UK Space Agency to inspire the next generation. This work is far from over, even when Tim gets back to Earth, so keep going and earning those Space2Earth Challenge badges.
From Louise Harra, Professor of Physics, UCL-Mullard Space Science Laboratory 
The UCL-Mullard Space Science Lab is doing a race to space in order to raise money for the Surrey air ambulance who saved one of our engineers, Graham, after a nasty cycling accident.
UCL-MSSL has designed, built and operated more than 35 science instruments for spacecraft over the years, and Graham has played key roles on many of these. Some missions he has worked (is working) on include SWIFT, XMM-Newton, Cluster II, Hinode and currently Solar Orbiter. 
Staff at MSSL are planning to do the distance to the space station, in 10km chunks through different means to raise funds. So far the space cadets plan to cycle, run, swim and write 10,000 word gaming material (!) – keep posted for the next steps. We’ll be doing this over the month of August.
From Director, Cheltenham Science Group
Cheltenham Science Group were part of the first ever Cheltenham Children’s Festival on Saturday 28th May. We were exploring space technology. Families enjoyed launching balloon rockets and popper rockets – some flew all the way up onto the balcony of the Town Hall! The real spacesuit that we had borrowed from Cambridge Science Centre was incredibly popular. We knew we had to train hard to be a real astronaut like Tim Peake, though, which is why families could also complete the first two space to earth missions. Even the grown-ups enjoyed space hopping 100 m and there was always a queue for the exercise bike. Altogether, we managed 25.4 km during the 3 hour event, which gets us into the stratosphere. We hope that we have inspired lots of families to go home and try and complete all of the missions together!
By Scott Wilson, Headteacher, Culross Primary School
We are Primary 5-7 at Culross Primary School (25 pupils), Fife, Scotland. Our class topic is Earth and Space.
Today we started our Space to Earth Challenge! Collectively we managed to cover a distance of 104,987metres (running and cycling)! We are aiming to complete Challenge 9 over the coming month!
We really enjoyed watching Tim Peake’s video introducing the challenge. We don’t have a school Twitter account and wondered if you could share our photo so that Tim can see us after our first attempt to reach our challenge!
Life at NMC has taken on an extra-terrestrial feel as the start of May signals the beginning of the annual Muscle Month Challenge. The aim is simple – to encourage people with Neuromuscular Conditions to challenge their own activity levels.
Neuromuscular Conditions, an umbrella term for a group of genetic muscle, nerve and metabolic disorders, are more common than you may think, affecting over 70,000 individuals in the UK. They range in severity, onset, and presentation with some conditions diagnosed at birth (such as severe forms of Muscular Dystrophy) and others not apparent until adult life. Regardless of their origin, the issues they cause present challenges to health and function in every individual, affecting that person’s independence, mobility and quality of life.
The Neuromuscular Centre in Winsford, Cheshire, is a national Centre of Excellence for adults with Neuromuscular Conditions. Providing ongoing, specialist physiotherapy; employment and training; advice and support to 1,000 individuals (and their friends, families, and carers) affected by Neuromuscular Conditions. NMC is a charity and its services are completely free-to-access for its service users, many of whom regularly from travel from across the country (and beyond!) to access the wealth of knowledge and expertise available. Continue reading
Today I have reached my current target, Mission 7, 200km. To mark my achievement, me, my sister Zoe and my Mum took a walk across the Forth Road Bridge. It was an amazing experience, despite the cold and rain. Before Tim returns to Eartth in around 6 weeks, I hope to achieve 300km. If that is not possible in the short time I have left then I attempt at least 250km. I wish good luck to everyone who is taking part in the challenge. I hope you achieve your goal before Tim comes home.
