The 1.5 tonne descent module carried Tim Peake along with Russian flight commander Yuri Malenchenko and American flight engineer Tim Kopra as they returned from the International Space Station at the end of the Principia mission on 18 June 2016. Its surfaces are charred from atmospheric re-entry, when it had to withstand temperatures of 1,500°C.
The module has now returned to the Science Museum in London, where it will go on permanent display as part of the museum’s Summer of Space, to mark the 50th anniversary of the Moon landings.