The European Space Agency recently sent its first astronaut to the International Space Station, Tim Peake, along with NASA’s Tim Kopra and Roscosmos’ Yuri Malenchenko, in a recent rocket launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan nicknamed Expedition 46.
Peake has been busy around the International Space Station, preforming tests and scientific experiments since his arrival. Peake has also been a big help in a recent spacewalk mission where the International Space Station’s mobile transporter experienced a jam and two NASA astronauts had to go outside to fix the problem, which turned out to be a stuck brake handle.
In the past week, on Thursday to be exact, Peake had a slightly embarrassing moment aboard the International Space Station when he was attempting to make a phone call back to Earth. As it turns out, Peake had accidentally called the wrong number – a “lady” from Earth – as he noted in a Tweet via Twitter just after the event happened:
I’d like to apologize to the lady I just called by mistake saying ‘Hello, is this planet Earth?’ - not a prank call...just a wrong number!
It’s hinted that the person who picked up the phone may have thought the entire thing was a prank call and that they didn’t actually believe Peake when he tried to say he was from the International Space Station, but that much is not very clear at this point in time.
It’s also worth noting that the International Space Station doesn’t just use the telephone to get in touch with people on Earth – they also frequently reach out to Earthlings with amateur radio equipment, so long as the International Space Station is within range.
Peake will be aboard the International Space Station for six months as he continues to do his job as a scientist in space for the sake of humanity's understanding of space physics and habitability.
Source: Twitter/Tim Peake