British astronaut Tim Peake will return to the ISS

Tim Peake's adventures in space are far from over. At the Science Museum in London, the British astronaut announced this morning that he'll be returning to the International Space Station (ISS). There, like before, he'll be tasked with conducting new scientific research. Peake will be working with the European Space Agency (ESA), the same organisation that handled his original training and Prinicipia mission. The timing of his trip is unclear, however -- the UK government has merely said it will be "confirmed by the ESA in line with normal mission selection protocol." NASA currently has four ISS-bound launches in its diary, ending in October.

Peake's first mission began in December 2015. He left planet Earth with NASA astronaut Tim Kopra and experienced cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko, before settling in for a six-month stint aboard the station. The trip made Peake the first British astronaut on board the ISS and the first UK citizen to explore space in over 20 years. On the vessel, Peake carried out hundreds of research projects and made some valuable repairs -- one of which required a spacewalk. He also ran a marathon (sort of), perfected zero gravity flips and conducted interviews with supporters back on Earth.