Commander Lee Archamboult called deeply on the “can do” spirit that comes naturally to a NASA astronaut to launch his latest mission — to inspire Britain’s inner city youngsters to believe that one day they might walk on Mars.

Only three months ago he and the rest of the crew of shuttle STS-119 returned to the Kennedy Space Centre, in Florida, at the end of a 13-day, 5.8 million-mile round trip to the International Space Station.

They touched down at the Museum of Science and Industry, in Manchester, today on the first leg of a British tour to meet schoolchildren and tell them what it is like to eat and sleep in orbit and go space walking.

The aim of the mission, organised by the International Space School Educational Trust, is to encourage youngsters in deprived inner cities to fulfil their ambitions and particularly to inspire them to take up subjects like science, engineering and maths.

Mr Archamboult said: “We hope to drive an interest in the next generation of space exploration. In 20 years from now wouldn’t it be wonderful if somebody walking around here now was walking Mars?”

Their visit coincides with a wave of 1960s nostalgia for the space race that has greeted the 40th anniversary of the first Moon landing, when Neil Armstrong left his boot print in the lunar dust.

Each of the five astronauts is acutely aware that space exploration has lost much of the excitement of its early pioneering years, but they are convinced that there will be a renaissance once astronauts return to colonise the Moon, as a prelude to going to Mars.

There was plenty of excitement at the museum as the crew showed a video of their flight to the pupils of St Francis Primary School, Gorton, and then answered their questions.

Shanice Osman, 10, was intrigued by weightlessness in space.

“I would like to be an astronauts because it must feel good to float about in space,” she said. “That is the good bit. The bad bit is when you are on the way up you must be uncomfortable because you have to sit with your knees up and facing upwards”.

Henry Cowell, also 10, who already has a shelf of space books, was only too happy to comply with Mr Archamboult’s order to address him as “commander”.

“I learnt what you have to be especially good in, and what qualities you might need to be an astronaut. You need to be half decent at maths asnd science. You also need to be a good listener”.

Henry was fascinated to learn that many of the traditions of the US Navy have been exported to space, not least the bell ringing when greets the commander when he enters the space craft.

“I was thinking of being an astronaut before but now more than ever,” he said.

The astronauts, who are visiting schools in the city, were guests of honour at a reception at the museum last night (mon). They visiting Skipton, Newcastle, Gateshead and Tynside over the next three days.

John Phillips, an experienced astronaut since his first flight in 2001 on Endeavour, said that it was hard to believe that it is likely to be half a century between the Apollo programme and the next planned mission to the moon.

The popular excitement of early space exploration will return when astronauts go back to the moon to live in its inhospitable terrain for weeks and months, he suggested.

There are also plans to pull up alongside, and even dock on earth crossing astoroids. Meanwhile, the first manned Mars shot is pencilled in for the late 2020s.

“When we go back to doing programmes like that, that is when the world will get really excited about it,” he said.

Steve Davis, MOSI director, said that the astronauts’ visit coincided with the celebration of the centenary of the first all-British flight. A replica of the triplane flown in July 1909 by Alliott Verdon Roe is on show in the museum.

Chris Barber, director of the International Space School Education Trust, said that it was important to impress on youngsters in “more deprived areas” that the opportunities on offer are for them as well, and that with hard work and commitment they can seize them.

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