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But he didn’t get to explain to the person that his joke was only the beginning of a message intended for his loved ones to say Merry Christmas.

He had called a wrong number.

The first British European Space Agency astronaut tweeted this:

"I'd like to apologise to the lady I just called by mistake saying 'Hello, is this planet Earth?' - not a prank call...just a wrong number!"

The 43-year-old hasn't said which carrier he was using.

Peake has been exploring how the body reacts in space and a tea-making process in zero gravity, according to The Associated Press.

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