91Èȱ¬

I thought I'd call before he goes into quarantine ahead of his to the space station.

I had a long list of questions for the "Nasa Brit" but it wasn't long before I was on the end of an interrogation myself.

Piers wanted to know all about the and was pumping me for answers. He'd caught one of the leaders' debates on US TV and was fascinated to hear all about the "Clegg effect".

most famous export still takes a great interest in events "back home".

Piers will be part of the crew on Atlantis which will deliver the to the orbiting platform, as well as several tonnes of supplies.

The launch is currently set for Friday 14 May.

With only three shuttle flights left until retirement of the orbiter fleet, this mission is scheduled to mark the very last time we see in action. This fact is reflected in the STS-132 mission badge which depicts Atlantis flying into the sunset.

Memories and memorabilia will be a key part of this flight, says Piers:

"We're taking up a lot of stuff for people who've worked on Atlantis over the years. Some people down at the Kennedy Space Center have spent their entire careers working on her, so we're going to try to honour them. It'll be things like an Atlantis flag, but I don't want to say too much now because it will spoil it. You'll have to wait.
Ìý
"I flew on Atlantis in 2002 and we were in her last week for the launch rehearsal, and she still looks the same - the same little scuffs on the lockers and on the floor. An old friend, and entrusted friend."

It's always a case of "never say never". The Endeavour shuttle launch which I attended in February was an orbiter would lift off at night; and then the following mission of Discovery got delayed and it too ended up .

So, there is a circumstance in which Atlantis could yet make another flight. As you probably know, Nasa's flight rules now state that for every mission there must be another shuttle ready to "" if the first one has a problem and can't return its crew to Earth.

This emergency shuttle would go and fetch the astronauts from the space station and bring them home.

Even the very last shuttle mission will need such a standby, and Atlantis will fulfil that role. But there's been quite a bit of talk of Nasa just flying out this orbiter anyway with a reduced crew. If it's ready to go, why not? It would add considerably to the stores on the station. The hypothetical mission even has a name - .

As Piers says, though, "that's an on-going discussion, well above my paygrade", and he and his crew-mates will be flying on the assumption that when they bring Atlantis home the ship .

Piers is fulfilling a very different role on this mission to his two previous ones. Then, he was tasked with conducting spacewalks. On this flight, he will be on robotic arm duty.

The big item he'll have to move will be that Russian MRM. I got a chance recently to look over this module in the in Titusville close to the Kennedy Space Center. I climbed a very high, very wobbly platform to look over the module.

For someone who has become accustomed to the style of "silver tube" made in Europe for the ISS, seeing something which has very different lines comes as a fascinating shock.

The name "Mini Research Module" makes it sound as though the unit is some kind of laboratory. But in reality, it is more of a storeroom. The MRM will also serve as a new docking port for Russian Soyuz and Progress spacecraft.

The picture attached to this page was taken in Titusville by Clive Simpson, the editor of (Clive has a better camera than me!). You can't see it but tucked down one side of the module is a spare "elbow" for the which will go to the station in late 2011 or early 2012.

Piers is really looking forward to his new role. He's hoping all the work he'll have to do will be conducted from the new seven-windowed work station recently attached to the platform:

"You know we have the new Cupola installed on station, the big 'greenhouse'? We're hoping all the robotics will be operated from there. So I'll spend my days getting up in the morning, doing my teeth and then jumping into the robo-station. I'll be hanging upside-down, doing my work and watching the UK slide by.
Ìý
"There's time to do that and it's unbelievably good, I can tell you. It's like the best of every geography lesson you've ever had but pasted on to a sphere with clouds. You see Ireland and the UK all in one glance curved around the Earth. Just beautiful. You come up close and you can see all the cities and rivers. It's lovely; you could spend hours looking out the window."

Piers promises to come back to the UK several times this year. He's been following British space activity closely and has already had a briefing on the new :

"I think it's great. Industry called for this; the Royal Society called for this; and finally Parliament got the word. I'm hoping it will basically energise the political will there in the UK to funnel more effort behind space. There's an educated workforce there and it's just perfect. You could probably be doing twice as much as you are doing now."

• Bookmark with:
• |
• |
• |
• |
• - What's this?