Tim Peake, a British astronaut on board the International Space Station (ISS), committed a common human error on Christmas Day - he dialed a wrong number from space, according to The New York Times.

Peake, who arrived on the ISS on Dec. 15, took to Twitter to apologize to the woman he rang by mistake.

"I'd like to apologise to the lady I just called by mistake saying 'Hello, is this planet Earth?'" he tweeted on Thursday.

The poor woman had no idea that the question was genuine, as Peake pointed out that it was "not a prank call...just a wrong number!"

Peake, an ex-British Army Air Corps officer, is the first British European Space Agency astronaut to visit the ISS. He will be spending six months on the space station and will conduct science experiments as part of the Principia mission, according to his blog.

American astronaut Scott Kelly is also on board the ISS. Kelly, who broke the U.S. record for longest time in space earlier this year, also used the micro-blogging platform to wish everyone a Merry Christmas.

@ 2024 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.