:00:00. > :00:00.Hello, Ayshah here with your live Newsround update this
:00:00. > :00:14.Stargazers in Asia get a spectacular show from a solar eclipse.
:00:15. > :00:26.And the elephant rescue that took three cars and a tow rope.
:00:27. > :00:30.First, British Astronaut Tim Peake is reaching the halfway point
:00:31. > :00:33.of his mission on board the International Space Station.
:00:34. > :00:36.He's spent more than 12 weeks orbiting Earth and is due to return
:00:37. > :00:43.In a minute, I'll be joined on the sofa by a Nasa astronaut
:00:44. > :00:46.to tell us more about what it's like to go into space.
:00:47. > :00:48.But first, Martin's been looking back at some
:00:49. > :01:02.Tim Peake blasted off on 15th December last year. For his
:01:03. > :01:06.six-month mission on the International Space Station. He's
:01:07. > :01:11.been doing all sorts of experiments in space and has even tried to get
:01:12. > :01:17.you guys involved too. He spent Christmas... Merry Christmas! And
:01:18. > :01:24.even new year on the Space Station. Happy new year. Finding interesting
:01:25. > :01:30.ways to keep himself occupied. From making scrambled eggs in space to
:01:31. > :01:34.drinking water to showing us how to poo, or even being chased by a
:01:35. > :01:40.gorilla! But it's not just fun and games. He's been working pretty hard
:01:41. > :01:45.too, cleaning and going for spacewalks to fix broken equipment
:01:46. > :01:50.outside the ISS. He's even managed to present Adele with an ward at the
:01:51. > :01:56.Brits And congratulations to the whole Adele. It's been a packed
:01:57. > :01:58.journey so far, but with all his accomplishments we are sure there'll
:01:59. > :01:59.be more to come. Joining us now is Nasa
:02:00. > :02:10.astronaut Don Thomas. You've been up in space four times.
:02:11. > :02:15.Tell me what it is like. I had the amazing opportunity to be on three
:02:16. > :02:19.launch missions. It only takes 8-and-a-half minutes to get to
:02:20. > :02:23.space. A lot of shaking and vibration and 8-and-a-half minutes
:02:24. > :02:28.later the engines shut down and you are in zero gravity. When you see
:02:29. > :02:35.the Earth from the window you gasp at how beautiful it is. What did you
:02:36. > :02:40.see when you were up there? I saw the top of Mount Everest many times.
:02:41. > :02:45.That's the lazy man's time to see the top. I saw the Amazon
:02:46. > :02:51.rainforest, Victoria falls in Africa. We always loved passing over
:02:52. > :02:58.the Kennedy Space Center to look down at our launch point, to say we
:02:59. > :03:03.left Earth a few days ago. There's a lot of work to do up there isn't
:03:04. > :03:07.there? A lot of work. Tim Peake has been doing a lot of science. The
:03:08. > :03:13.International Space Station is a laboratory. We look at how plants
:03:14. > :03:17.grow, how small animals behave and adapt in zero gravity. Tim's been
:03:18. > :03:22.pretty busy with the science up there. He's halfway through now. How
:03:23. > :03:29.much do you miss stuff when you are up there? When you are in space
:03:30. > :03:36.there's a lots of things on Earth you miss and take for granted. I
:03:37. > :03:42.missed my family, and fresh food. All of our food is freeze dried. So
:03:43. > :03:47.to get fresh food and salad. The opportunity to take a walk round the
:03:48. > :03:50.neighbourhood after dinner, to believe some quiet time to get away
:03:51. > :03:53.from everybody. You don't get the chance to do that on the
:03:54. > :03:55.International Space Station. That's true. Thank you don for that
:03:56. > :03:57.insight. Now Don - I think you'll enjoy
:03:58. > :04:00.these amazing pictures. Stargazers across Indonesia
:04:01. > :04:02.and the Central Pacific region were given a rare treat yesterday
:04:03. > :04:05.when they got the chance to see Wearing special glasses
:04:06. > :04:08.to protect their eyes, they were treated to a spectacular
:04:09. > :04:11.show as the Moon passed entirely in front of the Sun,
:04:12. > :04:14.blocking all sunlight and turning Rescuers in Kenya in Africa have
:04:15. > :04:25.taken three-and-a-half hours to safely pull out
:04:26. > :04:27.an elephant trapped in mud. The 20-year-old animal got stuck
:04:28. > :04:29.around a dried up well Rescuers had to shovel dirt
:04:30. > :04:34.onto the mud to make it less wet before pulling the elephant free
:04:35. > :04:38.by using three cars and tow ropes. It was a big rescue effort
:04:39. > :04:41.and the animal is said to be That's all from the
:04:42. > :04:46.Newsround team today.