01/06/2016 Newsround

Good morning.

Ayshah here, live from Newsround HQ this Wednesday.

Stay tuned for a programme that's out of this world.

What Tim Peake is craving to eat when he returns to Earth.

The new science project searching for aliens.

First, to the train tunnel that's breaking world records.

It's the longest and deepest on the planet and it's

being officially opened in Switzerland today.

The Gotthard base tunnel is 57 kilometres long

and took 17 years to build.

Engineers dug deep under the Alps mountain range to make it.

It will link the Netherlands in Northern Europe

to Italy in the south.

Now to something else that's massive, the Square

Kilometre Array project.

When it's finished, the radio telescope will be the most powerful

in the world and able to search further into space than ever before,

but there's one big question scientists hope it will

help us answer.

Aliens.

Are they really out there?

And, if so, are we ever going to find them?

The universe is vast.

Our solar system is one of the solar systems around a sun,

which is one of the millions of stars in our galaxy.

Our galaxy is one among the millions of galaxies

in the universe.

So, why not?

Maybe there is life somewhere in another solar

system in another galaxy.

That is what scientists are trying to find out

with the help of these.

This is the Square Kilometre Array project.

When it is finished, it will be the world's most

powerful radio telescope, so sensitive that it will be able

to detect a signal from a planet that is tens of light years away.

These telescopes are listening for intelligent life

and that is why they have decided to build them here.

What makes this place in South Africa perfect

is that there is no radio waves around to mess up the signal.

That's no microwaves, no mobile phones -

I've had to turn mine off.

Every day, these dishes are collecting massive amounts

of data, which will eventually be processed by a supercomputer

in the UK where experts will look for any signs of life.

How do you go about looking for alien signals?

Well, you have got big telescopes like that and they can go listen

in the universe and listen for radio signals from other planets

where we hope they also have radio signals and maybe we can detect

some of these signals.

How would we know that an alien has tried to contact us?

We are looking for intelligent signals, signals that are not

from nature but that are made by intelligent creatures.

Will we ever be able to find an alien?

I certainly hope so.

I hope to find them once in my lifetime.

It would be such a big discovery.

But it could be very long and it could also take very long

to communicate with them because the signals take maybe years

to go to the civilisation and also take years to get back,

so one simple question and answer could take, like, 40 years.

Of course, there's no guarantee that other civilisations exist

beyond our world, but, if they do, it might not be long before

SKA finds them.

Someone who probably has a thing or two to say

about aliens is Tim Peake.

The British astronaut has been busy in space.

He's done a spacewalk, run a marathon and even

presented a Brit Award.

He's been talking about returning to Earth in less than three weeks'

time, including what his first meal back home will be.

The unhealthy version would be pizza.

A healthy version would be a nice fresh salad with some fresh fruit.

Both, actually, I really crave.

Although I am very conscious of the fact that I do return

in less than three weeks, we still have an awful lot

of work to do up here.

We set have still got one of our cargo vessels,

Cygnus, is still docked at the Space Station.

We are busy loading that and that will actually

depart before I depart.

There are still a lot of things do happen so I take each day at a time.

There is still science going on on a daily basis.

Of course, I am looking forward to seeing friends and family again

and I am looking forward to coming back to planet Earth.

The whole experience has been absolutely incredible and so much

more than I imagined, but if I did have to pick one thing,

it would be doing the spacewalk and it would be the first moment

that I came out of the airlock and Tim Kopra, my Nasa colleague,

and myself, we went outside and did that spacewalk.

It was an amazing feeling.

I certainly hope that I am not the last UK astronaut

to fly in space.

I hope there are many UK school kids today who can fulfil an ambition one

day of becoming an astronaut.

Some quick footie news to finish and England have announced

who they are sending to France for the 2016 European Championships.

Manchester United's teenage striker Marcus Rashford has been named

in Roy Hodgson's England squad.

He only made his professional debut in February, but his great

performance earned him a call-up.

Superstar Leicester forward Jamie Vardy has also made the cut.

Wayne Rooney will captain the 23-man England squad.

Crystal Palace midfielder Joe Ledley's been selected

for the Wales squad.

He's just returned to training after breaking his leg.

Wales boss Chris Coleman says Ledley should be back for

the group stages.

That's all from me and the team this morning.

Newsround is back with Martin at 4.20pm this afternoon.