A BRITISH astronaut on the International Space Station has set out to make history by becoming the first man to run a marathon in space.

    Astronaut Tim Peake will run 26.2 miles (42 km) on a treadmill while following a video feed of the Digital Virgin Money London Marathon from the International Space Station.

    “As soon as I got assigned to my mission to the International Space Station, I thought wouldn’t it be great to run,” said Peake, a former helicopter pilot who will be running for the Prince’s Trust charity.

    “The London Marathon is a worldwide event. Let’s take it out of this world,” the 43-year-old said.

    Peake is due to take off Dec. 15 from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on board a Soyuz rocket for a six-month mission to the ISS.

    “Major Tim” — his actual rank — will be only the second Briton in space after Helen Sharman in 1991.

    According to Dr. Jonathan Scott of the Space Medicine Office at the European Space Agency, treadmill running is a routine and important part of living in space.

    “It’s essential that astronauts stay fit and healthy to counter the effects of living in microgravity,” he said. “If Tim did no exercise when he arrived on the ISS, he could lose as much as a quarter of his aerobic capacity after just two weeks of the mission.”

    While exercise is common on the space station, the length and intensity of a full marathon can present some unique difficulties. One such difficulty comes from the harness that Peake will be required to wear throughout his run.

    Peake said he would run April 24 — the day of the marathon, which has around 37,000 participants. Thanks to a screen with a virtual-reality avatar placed in front of him he will feel like he is there.

    “I’ll be running it with the iPad and watching myself running through the streets of London whilst orbiting the Earth at 400 kilometers above the surface and going 27,000 kilometers per hour,” Peake was quoted as saying in a statement released by the Prince’s Trust.

    “One of the biggest challenges I’ll be facing is the harness system,” Peake said.(SD-Agencies)