Astronauts start spacewalk at International Space Station

While Peake is not the first Briton to visit the ISS, he is the first qualified astronaut to enter space on a British passport.

Year five teacher Mrs Gatiss said: “Engaging with this exciting mission has given the children an awesome insight into Tim Peake’s mission, and has also deepened their knowledge of the solar system”.

The cause of the stall remains unclear, but “experts believe it may be related to a stuck brake handle”, according to ISS mission integration and operations manager Kenny Todd. The duo clambered out of the station’s Quest airlock and made their way to a Mobile Transporter cart that had inexplicably jammed on rails running along the station’s exterior truss.

He said that the space station management team will be meeting on Sunday, December 20 to decide whether to go ahead with the spacewalk on Monday or delay it until Tuesday.

“Every time you turn a corner or move your head, your ears send signals to the brain that do not really match your eyes so you do feel disorientated and dizzy”, he said.

The planned 3 to 3 ½ hour spacewalk is scheduled to begin Monday at 7:10 a.m. Central time.

The Progress cargo ship filled with food and supplies launched from Kazakhstan about four hours before the spacewalk began.

Chris Hadfield was an inspired choice to co-present, having flown two space shuttle missions and served as commander of the ISS.

Former Army Air Corps officer and helicopter test pilot Major Peake, 43, has trained to undertake EVAs and may get a chance to exercise his space legs himself during his six-month mission.

He said he was surprised at how rapidly his body has adapted to being in a weightless environment, and then did a backwards summersault.

During the press conference, the British astronaut spoke to journalists who had gathered at the European Astronaut Centre near Cologne, Germany.

In his first blog from space Major Peake wrote: “The support for our launch was outstanding, and I want to thank each of you for the #GoodLuckTim messages”.