With the words “OK, I’m coming out”, Tim Peake has today become the first ever British astronaut to complete a space walk.

Peake spoke of how it was a “privilege” and a “proud moment” as he emerged from the International Space Station wearing a Union Jack adorned space suit.

The Brit has been joined by Nasa’s Tim Kopra on a six hour mission, 250 miles above the Earth, to replace faulty electrics on a solar panel powering the International Space Station.

In an interview with the BBC’s Stargazing Live earlier this week, Peake said: “I think a spacewalk is absolutely the pinnacle of an astronaut’s career.”

The two astronauts will venture to the very edge of the space station, travelling half its length – a distance of roughly 50m – while all the time being attached to the space station’s external structure via a steel cord, or tether.

“Although I am exhilarated by tomorrow’s spacewalk I have no time to dwell on these emotions. The six hours and thirty minutes we will work on the Space Station’s hull are meticulously planned and Tim and I need to execute each step methodically,” wrote Peake in a blog post.

The pair have been given a safe window of 31 minutes to work on changing the malfunctioning electrical component because the operation has to be carried out when there is no sunlight, in case the faulty solar equipment electrocutes the astronauts.

Speaking about the mission, Peake said: “We have to be very careful when we go out to the worksite, because there’s nothing protecting us from the high voltages generated by the solar panel.”

“We need to change that box out and then hopefully the fresh one will work correctly and we can continue with some more tasks.”

“We have used virtual reality headsets to re-enact our operations and trained for the worst case scenario of becoming detached from the Space Station but I guess nothing can fully prepare for the feeling of being outside of a spacecraft in the vacuum of space.”