Astronaut Tim Peake Apologizes for Dialing Wrong Number From Space Station

United Kingdom astronaut Tim Peake has tweeted a light-hearted apology after dialling a wrong number from space and saying to a woman on the other end of the line: "Hello, is this planet Earth?", according to the BBC.

"I'd like to apologize to the lady I just called by mistake", astronaut Tim Peake wrote on Thursday, NBC News reported.

Peake is joined on the Space Station by NASA's Scott Kelly and Tim Kopra and Russian cosmonauts Sergey Volkov, Mikhail Kornienko and Yuri Malenchenko.

Last week, he helped two of his fellow crewmen carry out a spacewalk - but failed in an attempt to phone his parents afterwards. Peake, 43, tried to call his family on Monday, but had to leave a message-as they weren't home. Nigel and Angela Peake arrived home to find a voicemail left by their son.

Mr Peake said on Twitter it was not meant to be a "prank call".

The nation seemed to come to a halt during liftoff December 15 as many stopped what they were doing and nervously watched live coverage of him leaving the earth for outer space.

An astronaut on the International Space Station made a technical error on Christmas Eve - but it was nothing a quick tweet couldn't fix.

Previous "Brits in space" have either had USA or dual citizenship or been on privately funded or sponsored trips.