The public can '˜become' Chichester's Tim Peake on Alton Towers ride

Visitors to the park were given the opportunity to become the Chichester-based astronaut as they rode space-themed rollercoaster, Galactica.

Wearing virtual-reality headsets emblazoned with his face, participants flew across the 840-metre track, travelling up for 75 km per hour.

Tim has spent the last six months in space, carrying out over 250 experiments, performing a spacewalk, running the London Marathon on a treadmill and even receiving an honour from the Queen.

When he returns from his mission this Saturday, June 18, Major Peake will be honoured with ‘Freedom of the Park’.

This gives him and his family lifetime access to Alton Towers so he can revisit space, via virtual reality, whenever he wishes.

Gill Riley, marketing director at Alton Towers Resort, said: “Major Tim Peake will complete the final section of his incredible journey on Saturday and we can’t wait to see him land safely back on Earth.

“Ahead of his re-entry we wanted to give thrillseekers on board Galactica the chance to become Tim Peake for a few minutes.

“The journey on Galactica is the next best thing to real space travel and has been enjoyed by thousands of space-lovers since we opened the ride in March.”

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