Astronaut Piers Sellers hopes to become only the third British person to go to space next month.

Piers, who was born in Crowborough, will attempt to break the record for the longest space walk.

Over the course of three days, he will fix new solar panels to the International Space Station.

He will spend a total of 24 hours walking in space and hopes to beat the record for a single walk of eight hours 56 minutes set by two US astronauts in 2000.

He will launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on September 28 after six years of hard training.

Piers, 47, said: "I am tremendously excited. This launch is what I have strived for all my life."

Although his ambition to go up into space was instilled into him as a child, Piers was spurred on to achieving his goal after his son Tom, then nine, was struck down with liver cancer.

Piers, who lives in Houston, Texas, with his wife Mandy, said: "It was scary. I spent the first year sleeping on the floor of his hospital room. We were warned he might not make it.

"Tom is a living miracle. It was a life-changing experience and made me realise how important it is to follow your dreams."