Scots lawyer ‘over the moon’ to witness spacecraft launch in Kazakhstan

Advocate Linda Marsh is counting down to the trip of a lifetime, to watch the launch of the Soyuz spacecraft taking British astronaut Tim Peake to a six-month stay on the International Space Station.

Ms Marsh is a friend of the astronaut and his family and he chose her as one of three friends with an aviation background to be a VIP guest at the launch in Kazakhstan, which is scheduled for 15 December.

“I feel extremely privileged to have been asked and, well, I’m over the moon!” said Ms Marsh, who joined the Faculty of Advocates in 2002 after holding an assistant director position in the former Strathclyde Regional Council.

“We have a passion for aviation as a common interest. I am a pilot and have been flying since 1978. I was also a flying instructor but I have retired from that now. Tim was a helicopter pilot and instructor in the Army and became a test pilot for AgustaWestland before being selected as a European Space Agency astronaut,” added Ms Marsh.

Along with members of his immediate family and the other guests, she will fly to Moscow on 8 December and spend time at Star City, the Russian Federal Space Agency’s training centre.

Then, the party will head to the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan whereSoyuz TMA-19M will launch and take Tim Peake and two fellow astronauts to the International Space Station.

“If somebody gave me the chance to sneak on board, I would be there,” said Ms Marsh.

“It is the ultimate aviation experience but, sadly, I was born too early and my physics was never going to be good enough! But if I can’t go, then to be there when Tim takes off is the next best thing.

“I’m looking forward to getting a phone call from Tim from space, so I can save ‘International Space Station‘ in my phone contacts list – but just as long as I don’t have to pay for the call charges!”