Tim Peake reveals little-known sound every astronaut must listen out for on the ISS – and it’s a ‘bad, bad sign’
ASTRONAUT Tim Peake has revealed a little-known sound that everyone must listen out for on the International Space Station (ISS).
Detectable even by the untrained ear, it is "bad, bad" news for everyone onboard, says Peake, who spent six months living and working on the ISS between 2015 and 2016.
Speaking to The Sun, Peake explained that the sound and sensation of your ears popping is hot on every astronauts radar.
“What happens is if you hear a big bang on the ISS, it probably means that something's hit the space station like a micro-meteorite and you're depressurising," he said.
"And the association with that actually is ear popping.
“In terms of senses, that’s the one thing we’re always cautious of.”
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In these scenarios, Peake detailed how astronauts must jump into action to find and patch a breach as soon as possible.
“It happened on the space station when they were trying to dock a spacecraft and it crashed into the space station.
"As well as the bang, the next thing [astronauts] noticed were their ears popping.
“So, if ever your ears start popping on the space station, it’s a bad bad sign, it means that you're depressurising quickly.”
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Peake, a former Army Air Corps officer, was the first British citizen to visit the ISS.
He beat an eyewatering 8,000 applicants to secure his place as an astronaut with the European Space Agency (ESA) in 2008.
Peake detailed the trials and tribulations of being a career astronaut for himself and all the others who came before him in his new book Space: The Human Story.
“There’s this new era that’s approaching and its not hugely in the public domain," Peake said of his new book.
"Although, I think that with what Elon Musk’s doing with Starship and the Artemis missions, more and more people are actually realising that we’re going back to the moon within the next two years.
“I kind of wanted to highlight that whole story of how we got there.”
Penguin Century title Space: The Human Story hits the shelves on October 26.
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