Exeter University astronaut: Going to space 'never grows old'

Dr Mike Barratt is on his third space mission

A tutor at Exeter University who is currently on board the International Space Station (ISS) has said being in space "never grows old".

Dr Mike Barratt is pilot of the Crew-8 mission which launched from Florida earlier this month.

It is a third trip for the astronaut who is part of the Devon university's extreme medicine programme.

Dr Barratt said one of the most "satisfying things" so far was "working together" with his crew.

'Feels like home'

Talking about going to space again, he said: "It never grows old.

"Your body remembers and your mind remembers what it's like in space... by the third time I almost felt I was at home."

Dr Barratt will be leading experiments on the physiology of how bodies adapt to weightlessness.

He said: "The ISS supports a lot of different science experiments.

"We do everything that you want to do in zero G that you couldn't really do in one G on the Earth."

He added: "One of the most satisfying things up here is coming together as a crew and working together and making it all happen.

"What I miss the most is my family by far. If they weren't such a magnet on the ground I would stay up here a lot longer."

The crew will remain on the space station, 250 miles (420km) above the Earth's surface, for six months.