Tim Peake Spacewalk Live Stream: Historic First For British Astronaut Aboard The ISS At 12:55 GMT

LIVE: Watch Tim Peake Become The First Ever Brit To Perform A Spacewalk
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Tim Peake has become the first Briton to perform a spacewalk as he joins fellow NASA astronaut Tim Kopra on a routine repair mission outside the International Space Station.

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Watch the mission live at 12:55GMT right here courtesy of NASA TV.

17:05: The spacewalk has been terminated an hour ahead of schedule after Tim Kopra reported seeing a 'golfball' sized droplet of water. It's not a major incident by any means but after a previous accident new rules have now dictated that the presence of any water will result in a termination.

15:01: The replacement 'shunt' has been correctly installed and the electrical systems officer is now checking to make sure that the box is performing as expected.

14:37: The 'Operational Eclipse' begins and the team start work on removing the old faulty 'Shunt' box. The reason they're doing this is to allow solar panel 1B to start sending electricity to the station again. The panels actually overproduce electricity so the shunt unit is designed to reduce the voltage.

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14:22: The pair have reached 1B and are now awaiting the start of 'Operational Eclipse' when they'll have just a small window within which to do repairs.

13:52: Tim Kopra and Tim Peake arrive at the 1B array, from there they'll be able to safely carry out the repairs. The team are under a time constraint though, they have just 31 minutes to replace the shunt.

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13:38: Tim Peake and Tim Kopra prepare to make their way under cover of darkness towards truss 1B solar array. This is so they can work safely without the sun powering the panels.

13:10: Tim Peake becomes the first British citizen to walk in space. Final checks now begin before Peake can close the hatch and the mission can begin.

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12:59:Tim Kopra leaves the airlock and begins to tether the equipment to the station before Tim Peake leaves the airlock.

12:50: Tim Peake and Tim Kopra switch their suits to internal battery power as the outer hatch opens. This is the final step before slowly making their way out onto the exterior of the International Space Station.

12:31:Tim Kopra has been designated as EV1 and will be wearing the suit with a stripe, Tim Peake will be designated as EV2 and will not feature a stripe on his suit.

12:22: Tim Peake and Tim Kopra begin decompression within the airlock. They'll bring it down to just above absolute vacuum and then do one last check of their suits before finally removing all the air from the chamber.

The two Tims will be outside for a total of six hours carrying out an essential repair. Peake explains: “Our primary task will be to replace a failed Solar Shunt Unit, which transfers electrical power generated by the solar panels.”

According to the ESA the unit is relatively easy to replace but because of the inherent dangers that come with working so close to the solar panels the team will have to work in darkness.

Before Major Peake can don the space suit however he'll need to undergo two hours of preparations during which he'll need to breathe pure oxygen.

This will purge his body of any nitrogen, thus preventing the 'bends' that he could suffer when climbing inside the low-pressure suit.

Speaking about the mission Major Peake said: “I am thrilled at this opportunity for a spacewalk. Right now we are focusing on preparing the tools, equipment and procedures.

“Maintaining the International Space Station from the outside requires intense operations - not just from the crew, but also from our ground support teams who are striving to make this spacewalk as safe and efficient as possible.”