Astronaut calls wrong number from ISS

Britain's astronaut Tim Peake reacts as his space suit is tested at the Russian-leased Baikonur cosmodrome, prior to blasting off to the International Space Station (ISS), on December 15, 2015. Russia's Soyuz TMA-19M spacecraft carrying the International Space Station (ISS) Expedition 46/47 crew of Britain's astronaut Tim Peake, Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko and US astronaut Tim Kopra is scheduled to blast off to the ISS on December 15, 2015. AFP PHOTO / KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV / AFP / KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV

Britain's astronaut Tim Peake reacts as his space suit is tested at the Russian-leased Baikonur cosmodrome, prior to blasting off to the International Space Station (ISS), on December 15, 2015. Russia's Soyuz TMA-19M spacecraft carrying the International Space Station (ISS) Expedition 46/47 crew of Britain's astronaut Tim Peake, Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko and US astronaut Tim Kopra is scheduled to blast off to the ISS on December 15, 2015. AFP PHOTO / KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV / AFP / KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV

Published Dec 29, 2015

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London - Anyone can dial a wrong number, but it’s not often done from outer space.

British astronaut Tim Peake tweeted an apology on Christmas Day from the International Space Station after calling a wrong number.

He wrote: “I’d like to apologise to the lady I just called by mistake saying ‘Hello, is this planet Earth?’ - not a prank call - just a wrong number!”

The 43-year-old former army helicopter pilot did not say who he was calling.

Millions of Britons have been following his mission closely since he became Britain’s first publicly funded astronaut and the first Briton to visit the space station.

The nation seemed to come to a halt during lift-off on December 15 as many stopped what they were doing and nervously watched live coverage of him leaving the Earth for outer space.

Peake plans to conduct experiments on how the human body reacts in space and - in a British twist on space exploration - try out a new tea-making process geared toward zero gravity.

He is sharing the space station with five other astronauts.

AP

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