Britain's first International Space Station (ISS) crewmember is preparing for his tour and discussed how he plans to handle missing some major events back on Earth.

According to The Associated Press, Tim Peake told reporters at a news conference Monday that he hopes to be able to watch "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" while aboard the ISS. The first film in a new Star Wars trilogy opens on Thursday in the U.K. and then on Friday in the U.S.

Joined by NASA astronaut Timothy Kopra and Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko, Peake will blast off to the ISS on Tuesday from the Russian Space Agency's facility in Baikonur, Kazakhstan. Those three will be joining Scott Kelly, Mikhail Kornienko, and Sergey Volkov, who are currently aboard the ISS, for the Christmas and New Year holidays.

"The best piece of advice I've been given by many astronauts and cosmonauts who've flown before is to make sure you get time to look out the window, not for taking a photograph but to enjoy it for your own benefit," BBC News quoted Peake telling reporters at the news conference. "Hopefully in a six-month mission - 173 days on orbit - I hope to get plenty of opportunities to do just that."

Peake is also planning to run in the London Marathon in April, participating on a treadmill with tether to combat weightlessness and a monitor to help him visualize the course.

"We're immensely proud," Peake's father, Nigel, told The Guardian. "As you can imagine, it's quite surreal to think you're the father of an astronaut, especially a British astronaut. So we're very, very proud, and just a little bit overawed by the whole operation."