A SPACE capsule which has landed at a Bradford museum for the first time outside London is a huge coup for the district, according to its bosses.

Soyuz TMA-19M - the Space capsule that brought British astronaut Major Tim Peake safely back to Earth after his six-month-long stint on the International Space Station - has docked at the National Science and Media Museum for a two-month stay from tomorrow.

It will be on display alongside the 25-metre- diameter parachute he used in the entrance foyer of the museum, as the first stop on an eight-venue UK tour.

At today’s launch event, attended by Mr Peake, the National Science and Media Museum also revealed it has reported a 30 per cent increase in visitor numbers for the first half of the 2017/18 financial year, compared to the same period during the 2016/17 financial year.

Jo Quinton-Tulloch, National Science and Media Museum director, said the capsule will help to further enhance the site’s reputation.

She said: “It is another important day for the museum.

“It has already been a transformative year for the museum. It is a huge coup for us as the first venue. We are here to stay.

“It is the closest many of us will get to the amazing journey Tim Peake went through.

“We are thrilled to welcome him to Bradford.

“The capsule is going on a massive two-year tour and it is great that Bradford is where it will start. This is very important. We want to put this museum back on the map.

“This is another giant leap for us as we continue our journey to becoming one of the UK’s and world’s must-see museums.

“Having Tim Peake here to launch the Soyuz tour is extremely special.

“I’d encourage people to come and see the Soyuz while they can – it’s a very significant piece of Space history. The capsule wears its history well.”

The capsule, which landed in June last year, comes complete with equipped interior and char marks on its outer body from its re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere.

Mr Peake said he was pleased to see the spacecraft go on display, initially in Bradford, and then throughout the UK.

He said: “This is the capsule that kept me alive.

“I am delighted to see it go on tour and for it to start right here in Bradford.

“Hopefully seeing this capsule will help people to be inspired by Space and exploration and the science behind it.

“Soyuz is an incredible piece of engineering.”

Visitors to the Tim Peake Spacecraft experience will also get the chance to try his descent back down to Earth for themselves in a virtual reality experience.

Space Descent VR, located on the museum’s first floor and narrated by Mr Peake, sees visitors transported on a 13-minute trip from Space inside Soyuz.

It tries to replicate the astronaut’s own journey back from Space.

Visitors can also have their picture taken inside a white spacesuit, as Space takes over the museum for the next couple of months.

The Science Museum Group bought the capsule in December last year and is the first flown human-rated spacecraft in the UK’s national Space technology collection.

Ian Blatchford, director of the Science Museum Group, said: “This is the first time the Science Museum Group has toured one of its objects around the country, and what better object than the craft that brought Tim Peake safely back from Space?

“I’m particularly pleased that this tour will reach every one of our museums between London and County Durham to inspire visitors of all ages to engage with the science of Space exploration.

“It looks better here in Bradford than it did in London.”

People will be given a further chance to see the spacecraft at the museum’s Lates Space event on Thursday between 6.30pm and 9.30pm. Entrance is free for the event open to anyone aged 18 and over. Its attractions include museum curator Doug Millard explaining more about Tim and his spacecraft.

The Bradford leg of the spacecraft’s tour will run until November 19. It will then travel to the National Railway Museum, Shildon; National Railway Museum, York; and the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester. This is before it lands at museums in Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast.

Mr Peake also revealed today the Science Museum Group will run a competition for the capsule to go on display at one further venue, with people invited to apply to why it should go to their site.

Any venue interested in being the sixth venue of the tour, in autumn 2018, can apply via an online competition form at group.sciencemuseum.org.uk.