Tim Peake's time in space is drawing to a close, but he'll remain a star

The astronaut has been in the headlines constantly since his selection in 2009. But press campaigns and social media are only part of the reason for his success

Squeezed into a Soyuz capsule and surrounded by luggage, Tim Peake and two crewmates from the International Space Station will fall to Earth on Saturday morning in a fireball descent. All being well, the hair-raising ride should end at 10.15am UK time with the smouldering craft at rest in the open grasslands of southern Kazakhstan.

Weak and hemmed in, he and his companions - Nasa's Tim Kopra and the Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko - will be lifted free, checked by doctors, and after a short traditional ceremony flown back to their respective space agencies. Peake will accompany Kopra to Bodi air force base in Norway, switch planes in the dead of night and arrive in Cologne, home to the European Space Agency's astronaut centre, early on Sunday morning.