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He knows he won’t see his beloved only grandson grow up. British astronaut Piers Sellers knows he’s dying. And he wants to spend his remaining time with three-month-old Jack – and trying to save the planet for him.

He is an extraordinary man who has pledged to help find a cure for climate change to ensure Jack’s generation has a sustainable Earth to live on.

In his first newspaper interview since he announced he was suffering from incurable pancreatic cancer , the astronaut speaks movingly about how he is going to tackle his last few months.

“Jack is perfect,” says Piers, 60, who lives in the US. “I’ve got a new grandson, my first grandchild. The thing I like to do most is to see my family.

Read more:Piers Sellers' postcards from space

“My son and daughter are living in Texas, so I’m trying to see them as much as I can. That’s a lot of fun.”

(Image: Family handout)

Father to Tom and Imogen, he adds: “I’m taking maximum advantage of the time. I am working on trying to get stuff sorted out at home and seeing as many family and friends as possible.”

Speaking of the moment he got his diagnosis, the former Daily Mirror Pride of Britain winner says: “When I walked into the doctor’s office they told me, ‘You have three months right now if you don’t have any treatment.

“‘And if you do have treatment and it doesn’t work, you have three months. If it does work you have 12 to 18 months’, which is where I am right now because chemo is working pretty well, so I’m happy for that.”

Read more:See Tim Peake’s view of English Channel

But he admits: “Telling my family was the most difficult thing.” Then he had to let friends and colleagues know.

Piers, who was presented with the Outstanding Achievement Pride of Britain Award by Sir Patrick Moore in 2006, says: “I sent out an email after I got diagnosed.

(Image: Daily Mirror)

“I pointed out there were some upsides to this: that it had drastically simplified my retirement planning, got me out of jury duty and there was a promise of better parking privileges in Washington DC, which is like gold. I said they were reasons to be cheerful.”

The dad of two, from Crowborough, East Sussex, moved to the States in the 1980s with his wife Mandy and had to become a naturalised American to achieve his dream of becoming an astronaut.

Now living in the middle of Washington DC, he is deputy director of Sciences and Exploration at NASA ’s Goddard Space Flight Center and acting director of its Earth Sciences Division.

As an astronaut, he visited the International Space Station three times and walked in space six times. He logged more than 559 hours in space, including 41 on spacewalks. And he knows climate change is the world’s biggest problem.

(Image: NASA)

When he was diagnosed, Piers decided to write a detailed paper for a science journal about the issue. “But it would have been a long paper read by not many people,” he says. “That motivated me to do a shorter version of how I see the whole problem. It only took me four hours to write as I had all the ideas already in my head.

“I’m a division director. For the science division I have 1,500 people studying earth science. It’s the biggest group in the world that studies earth science.

Read more:Britain is hottest it's been in 2,000 years

“We have access to super-computers, aircraft and satellites. We are armed to the teeth to deal with this problem. My job is to manage this crew and keep it on track.”

He continues: “It’s a great job because the people are wonderful. They don’t need much managing, it’s more like cheerleading and opening opportunities for them. It’s a very exciting time. I still learn something new in science every day.

(Image: PA)

“My team knows where I am at and they have been terrific.”

On his mission to save the planet, he adds: “There are specifics that we are trying to do. The division is in the business of trying to think up new missions that help us understand the planet better. I have been trying to encourage that process, to be even more vigorous.

“In the next few years we hope to scope out some very exciting missions, to look at different components of the Earth’s system. Using lasers to measure carbon dioxide all over the planet in a single day, a very powerful tool.

“Technologies are coming along that are just remarkable for figuring out what’s going on on the planet.” Piers also praises Major Tim Peake , who is current at the ISS.

He said: “I have followed his training a bit. By all accounts he’s done very well. He did a great job on the spacewalk. He is a tremendous representative for Britain.

“There is a possibility we will get to Mars in the mid-2030s. That would be terrific.”

(Image: Family handout)

When he revealed his diagnosis, one statement that leapt out was Piers saying he was “going back to work tomorrow”.

He adds: “I did go back to work ‘tomorrow’, but it turned out it was an error on my part. The piece was published on a Sunday, and the tomorrow was a public holiday on the Monday.

“But I went to work any way just in case someone checked.”

Despite going through chemotherapy, Piers plans to visit family here soon.

He says: “I am still able to travel a bit. I have three brothers in London and my mum is in Guildford, and I will be back in next couple of months.

“Right now I am doing a chemo every two weeks, which kind of floors me for a few days. My good days are just before the next chemo, a window when I can travel somewhere.” For now, he is concentrating on getting back to work.

(Image: Rex)

Piers works just outside the US capital. He says: “There are plenty of Brits on the team, 25% of workforce here is foreign. All the French and Italians go out to smoke.

“I’m not taking that up, it’s bad for your health. Although I shouldn’t have to worry about that now,” he jokes.

As for tackling climate change, he adds: “I’m cautiously optimistic. I think there is no question we can get ourselves out of trouble. It will require deliberate action, it will require doing something, but the intellectual resources are there and the technologies are probably there too.

“We have to give the engineers and industrialists the appropriate incentives and investments and they will come up with the answers.”

As we finish, we move on to a more harrowing subject and I gently ask if he’s made any plans for his funeral. “Oh good lord, no, it’s on my to-do list,” Piers laughs, before adding firmly: “I’m not dead yet.”