Astronaut Tim Peake hosts lesson for students live from space

British astronaut Tim Peake has hosted a lesson live from space.

Tim Peake took part in the "cosmic classroom", playing space ping pong while travelling at 17,000mph on board the International Space Station (ISS).

Hundreds of children watched the Q&A session at the World Museum in Liverpool, but it was also streamed to thousands of schools across the country.

Major Peake was quizzed by students back on planet earth during a 20-minute video call home, streamed to three cameras at the World Museum in Liverpool.

The 43-year-old from Chichester, West Sussex - the first British astronaut to carry out a spacewalk - is more than a month into a six-month mission on board the ISS, carrying out experiments and research.

The event was hosted by Doctor Kevin Fong, who worked for NASA for 10 years, who told pupils "it could be you up there, you just need to work hard".

Tim Peake demonstrated experiments from space Credit: PA

During the call, which was possible thanks to a signal being sent down to America and beamed across to Liverpool, Major Peake demonstrated a number of science experiments for pupils to copy from their classrooms.

In a zero gravity game of "Follow the Leader", he was asked to crouch down, spin around, touch his toes and drink water.

Tim Peake also played ping pong during the session Credit: PA

The pupils watched as he let go of his "floating" microphone before spinning around and around in space.

More than 7,000 school children uploaded videos of questions and although there was not enough time to ask them all, a lucky handful did get the chance.

Five-year-old budding astronaut Harry, from Ursula Taylor School in Clapham, Bedford, blasted off the questions via video link asking Major Peake, "what can you see out of your windows?"

Major Peake floated to the window to tell the schoolboy he was in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean and was approaching the coast of Africa.

He described it as "beautiful" to look at from space.