AT the age of four, Piers Sellers was asked what he wanted to be when he grew up.

Along with other boys in his class at Tytten Hanger Lodge preparatory school in Seaford, Piers told his teacher he wanted to be an astronaut.

It was dismissed as a flight of fancy - but more than 40 years later Piers' dream has just become reality.

Piers, now aged 43, has completed his training with an elite class of NASA astronauts, and will take part in space exploration missions over the next ten years.

He has become only the second Brit ever to be taken on by NASA as an astronaut.

Piers was born in Crowborough and spent most of his youth in Sussex.

But to achieve his goal of wearing the famous NASA space suit, he first had to gain American citizenship.

He now lives in Houston, Texas, with his Yorkshire-born wife Amanda, 43, and children Imogen, 13, and Tom, 11.

Piers said completing his training was the realisation of a lifetime's ambition.

He said: "It is an amazing life being an astronaut. It is what I have always wanted to do.

"Ever since I was a boy, I have taken a keen interest in what is going on in terms of space exploration."

Piers was among a class of 44 graduate astronauts.

He said: "They call us the sardines because there are so many of us. I haven't been assigned a mission yet, so I don't know when I will be going into space. But I hope it will be soon.

"One of the group has just completed a successful mission with John Glenn, which really caught the media attention, and it could be any of us next.

"I would love to be allowed an opportunity to board the joint United States and Russian space station."

Piers and the other graduates are currently helping test Russian equipment to see if is compatible with American equipment.

He said: "One thing I have enjoyed immensely is learning how to operate a space suit.

"To simulate weightlessness, we submerge in a huge pool weighted down, and perform various tasks to get us used to the feeling.

"We also need to be adept at using complicated machinery that you would find in the Space Shuttle, so we regularly get aircraft flying experience. There is a lot to absorb and learn."

In fact Piers leaned to fly a whole lot earlier on in his life.

Amember of the Air Training Corps as a teenager, he was flying for his private pilot's licence at the age of 17.

His mother Lindsay, now living in the village of Elstead, Surrey, recalls one incident as indicative of Piers attempts to break the mould.

She said: "He was supposed to be at school one day, but I heard that he was in fact taking flying practice.

"He was seen by other pupils flying over the school grounds with his scarf waving alongside the aeroplane."

Piers was born at Crowborough Hospital and grew up in Melfort Road.

Like his four brothers, he spent much of his time at boarding school, as his father, John, a Colonel in the British Army, was forced to relocate to countries including Malta, Cyprus, Yemen and Germany.

Mrs Sellers said: "He was a bright boy and always had an interest in space flight and aeroplanes.

"Our house was always littered with space flight models, which I tried to keep restricted to his bedroom. His favourite was the Apollo 11 craft, which first landed on the moon in 1969.

"But he was also very creative and by the age of around 14 he was building his own model aeroplanes and flying them.

"He was adventurous and often took trips to the South of France when he was a teenager.

"But I never dreamed he would reach the status of an astronaut."

Piers gained a degree in Ecology from Edinburgh followed by a Biometerology Phd from Leeds Universiyy before moving to America.

A fluent grasp of Russian gave Piers an added advantage in joining the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in 1982.

He started as a researcher, using satellites and analysing global climate patterns and global warming at the Goddard Space Flight Centre.

His expertise in global climates and climate change persuaded NASA to take him on board.

He said: "The civilians in the class had to take part in survival training, which the military counterparts had already learned.

"In case we are ever stranded, we have to learn how to survive by eating snakes, for example.

"It's gruesome stuff and astronauts have to be pretty fit.

"We also use a lot of simulators. In one shuttle simulator we have to lie on our backs, while the whole cockpit violently shakes.

"We even get to watch the earth moving away from us on a screen."

Piers' chance to walk in space could be only a year away.

He said: "Soon we will be seeing a settlement on the moon and trips to Mars. Who would have said that in the 1900s we would have men on the moon?"

And Piers is certain we are not alone in the universe.

He said: "The sheer vastness of the universe means that it's a statistical certainty that there is something else out there."

Although Piers is now fully settled in America, he admits he still misses some things about England.

He said: "I miss Indian curries and pubs. You just can't get proper Indian food here.

"Most of all I miss my family. I try to get home as often as I can, but it is expensive to bring the whole family over.

"But I love it in Houston. It is very hot and humid in the summer but the winters are beautiful and every day is around 70 degrees."

His mother is exceptionally proud of her son.

She said: "He has really achieved something and most significantly he has done it all off his own back. He never had any wealth on his side, or any educational influence on his career or any contacts which could help him.

"He is an an example to young children who want to learn about science and it proves that there are always avenues for talented youngsters to explore in whatever field."

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