A former army test pilot is to become the first British astronaut to visit the International Space Station (ISS). Major Tim Peake, who will live and work on the space station for six months, starting in November 2015, will be the first UK astronaut in space for more than 20 years and was one of six candidates selected from more than 8,000 hopefuls.

He spoke to Newsnight's Jeremy Paxman about the mission, why the UK government is choosing to fund him to the tune of £16m and what the point of human space exploration is.