Tim Peake chased around International Space Station by gorilla in hilarious video

Astronaut Scott Kelly pranks his colleague in celebration of his year in space.

Life in space is not ‘all work and no play’ and this is best exemplified by recent footage released by Nasa astronaut Scott Kelly.

In celebration of his year on board the International Space Station, he decides to prank his British colleague, Tim Peake, in the most elaborate fashion.

Mr Kelly donned a gorilla suit and hid inside a storage container which was then moved into the centre of the room by Mr Peake.

The gorilla then escapes the storage container and proceeds to chase a startled Major Peake around the ISS.

Mr Kelly posted the video on Twitter with the caption: “Needed a little humor to lighten up a #YearInSpace. Go big, or go home. I think I'll do both. #SpaceApe”.

His ‘go big, or go home’ attitude was not embraced by all.

Keith Cowing, a former Nasa employee and now editor of space blog NASA Watch, questioned the prank.

“I am all for making the ISS relevant to the public in new ways and for making childish jokes at NASA's expense whenever possible. But given the immense cost of the ISS, its untapped potential for research, and complaints from potential users that there is not enough upmass or crew time, I have to wonder why NASA goes out of its way to highlight such stuff.”

“Scott Kelly has already completed more than 99% of his mission. He could have waited another week to wear the gorilla suit and saved NASA a lot of money. Just sayin'”.