Boldly going where few Brits have gone before: Other UK-born astronauts
Here are some other Brits who have explored space:
Helen Sharman - 1991
Sheffield-born chemist Helen Sharman beat 13,000 other applicants in a radio competition to be selected as the first Briton to travel to space.
Ms Sharman secured private funding to fly to the Mir space station on a Russian Soyuz craft in 1991.
She spent eight days at the station where her tasks included medical and agricultural tests and photographing the British Isles.
Dr Michael Foale - 1992
Dr Michael Foale, who holds dual UK-US citizenship, studied astrophysics at Cambridge University before he moved to Houston, Texas to work for NASA.
Foale participated as a crew member on six space missions and was the first Briton to perform a space walk.
He is a veteran of long duration missions on both the Mir and International space stations with his time in orbit standing at more than 370 days.
Piers Sellers - 2002
Anglo-American meteorologist Piers Sellers was selected as an astronaut by NASA in April 1996.
Sellers flew to the International Space Station in 2002, 2006 and 2010 where he carried out six space walks in total.
The British-born 58-year-old was awarded an OBE in 2011 for services to science.
Dr Nicholas Patrick - 2006
British-American engineer Nicholas Patrick was selected by NASA as an astronaut in June 1998, after becoming a US citizen in 1994.
Dr Patrick was part of two International Space Station construction flights in 2006 and 2010 before retiring in 2012.