Tom Peck's Sketch: Newquay or Llanbedr? The universe depends on it

Major Tim Peake will spend six hours out fixing solar panels in the International Space Station

Major Tim Peake carries out final checks before his space walk (ESA/NASA)

Two hundred and fifty miles is not that far to have to travel for a day’s work in the solar panel business, not since the Government all but ended the subsidies on them. But to be prepared to make the journey in an entirely vertical direction certainly shows initiative.

That is the distance from Earth to the International Space Station, where Major Tim Peake will spend six hours out fixing solar panels, a first for British spacewalking which will be an inspiration not just to children but to solar panel installers everywhere. The work is out there.

Back on Earth, our nation’s politicians had wisely capitalised on all the excitement with a clever bit of scheduling for their debate on UK Space Policy.

The UK is supposed to have its own spaceport by 2018. It has not yet been decided where to put it.

As we all know, when a child gazes upon the majesty of the cosmos, the question that swirls behind their eyes is: “Where am I going to have to go to get there? Prestwick, Newquay or Llanbedr?”

Compared with space, everything is seen in microcosm, and watching our politicians scale the wonders of the universe down to an argument over where to put the launchpad was beautiful in its way.

“Llanbedr has the potential to benefit the whole of North Wales, with its educational powerhouses in the University of Bangor and Wrexham’s Glyndwr University,” explained Liz Saville-Roberts – of Plaid Cymru, naturally.

The SNP is pushing hard for Prestwick, apparently untroubled by the peculiarity of its position: persuading the Government to build a unique bit of the nation’s infrastructure in a part of the country that no longer wishes to be part of the country.

Credit must go to the SNP’s Philippa Whitford, who managed to speak about the virtues of Prestwick at length without mentioning it was the site of Elvis Presley’s only visit to the UK. But with so many David Bowie puns to shoehorn into the limited time available, it was hardly surprising.

“Ground control to Major Tim’, “Starman waiting in the sky”, we had them all, not to mention the “Live long and prospers”, the infinities, the beyonds...

Credit must go in particular to Drew Hendry, the SNP’s man in Inverness, who with all of space to draw upon, told the house about a recent discovery of “a gigantic rain cloud out there, floating in space, that is not the size of the Pacific Ocean, but 100,000 times larger than the Sun”. Only a Scot, you might think.

Currently, it is intended for the UK’s spaceport to launch commercial passenger space flights and, perhaps, satellites if the costs come down.

The International Space Station, where Russians and Americans float about in harmony, is for Ms Whitford, an example of what can be achieved through the powers of cooperation.

“If we can work so well together in space, it would be great if we could work a little bit better here on Earth,” she said, as she and her friends continue their agitations to form their own little nation of four million people. Still, if they get their way, at least they’ll have an escape route.