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Helen Sharman
Astronaut

Helen Sharman

Famoose for

Becoming the first British person in space

First British space traveller

Born
30 May 1963
Birthplace
Sheffield

More people

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Helen Sharman

Helen Sharman is a British chemist and astronaut who flew to the Mir space station in 1991. Her flight was part of Project Juno, a Soviet-British mission.

Early life

Sheffield education

Grew up in Sheffield and earned a chemistry degree at the University of Sheffield in 1984.

Career

  1. 1989

    Project Juno selection

    Selected after responding to a radio advertisement.

  2. 1991

    Spaceflight

    Launched aboard Soyuz TM-12 and visited Mir.

Contributions

First British space traveller

Spent eight days in space on the mission.

Beyond work

Before spaceflight

Worked in industrial research, including the chemistry of chocolate flavouring at Mars.

Sources & photo creditBiography and career ↗Biographical references ↗Additional biographical or achievement source ↗

Original photograph. Cropped and displayed in monochrome.

Photo: Anne-Katrin Purkiss. CC BY-SA 4.0 · Original image. Cropped and displayed in monochrome.