Space trip flag handed to museum

Presiding Officer Alex Fergusson presents the Saltire

A Saltire flag which made a trip into space has been handed over to a museum for posterity.

The flag belonging to the Scottish Parliament was taken on a mission by UK-born Nasa astronaut Nick Patrick in support of a "space school" scheme.

The flag took off from Kennedy Space Centre in Florida in December 2006 for a 12-day construction mission to the International Space Station.

The Saltire was given to the National Museums of Scotland.

The parliament's Presiding Officer Alex Fergusson said: "This flag has undertaken a journey that for most us will remain only a dream."

Mr Patrick, whose mother is from Skye, began training as an astronaut in 1998.

He was brought up in North Yorkshire.