Tim Peake: ‘I orbited the earth 2,720 times’

The British astronaut, 45, on how vulnerable our planet looks from space, strange floating dreams and whether we'll find life out there

I'm not a huge fan of heights, which sounds strange for an astronaut. My most terrifying moment was doing a parachute jump. That first leap of faith out of the aircraft at 14,000ft was far more terrifying than going into space.

Sandhurst is not posh at all. It's a completely level playing field, everybody is treated the same" and that's abysmally! The first few weeks is all about breaking you and then they rebuild you into the mould they want you to be. It was an incredibly positive experience for me.