Helen Sharman The first and only British astronaut to fly in space as an official British representative Date of Birth: 30.05.1963 Country: Great Britain

Biography of Helen Sharman

Helen Patricia Sharman, born on May 30, 1963, in Grenoside, Sheffield, was the first and only astronaut from the United Kingdom to travel to space. She became the first British astronaut and the first woman to visit the Mir space station in 1991. After completing her secondary education, Sharman attended the University of Sheffield, where she earned a bachelor's degree in chemistry in 1984. She also received a doctorate from Birkbeck, University of London.

Sharman worked as an engineer for General Electric in London and later moved to Mars Incorporated, where she worked as a flavor technologist, creating flavors and aromas for chocolate. Inspired by a radio advertisement calling for the first British astronaut, Sharman went through a rigorous selection process and was chosen for the Juno mission, a collaborative project between the Soviet Union and a group of British companies, out of approximately 13,000 applicants. The mission aimed to raise funds through a lottery and corporate sponsorship from British companies such as British Aerospace, Memorex, and Interflora.

After 18 months of intense preparation at the Star City, located 25 km northeast of Moscow, Sharman embarked on the Soyuz TM-12 mission on May 18, 1991. She spent a week on the Mir space station, conducting medical and agricultural tests and photographing the British Isles. Sharman also engaged in amateur radio communication lessons with British schoolchildren. At the age of 27 years and 11 months, she became the fifth youngest person to travel to space among the 528 individuals who have done so as of 2014. The second youngest astronaut was Valentina Tereshkova, who became the first woman in space at the age of 26 years and 3 months in 1963.

Although considered as one of the three British candidates for selection by the European Space Agency in 1992 and making the shortlist of 25 candidates for a spaceflight in 1998, Sharman did not venture into space again. For her remarkable contribution to the Juno project, Sharman received a star on Sheffield's Walk of Fame.

Currently, Helen Sharman is part of the senior management team of the Faculty of Science, Engineering, and Computing at Kingston University in London. As the Technical Director, she oversees various specialized facilities and laboratories used for teaching and research purposes. In 1991, she had the honor of igniting the flame of the Summer Universiade held in Sheffield, despite a small mishap during the torch relay.

In recognition of her achievements, Sharman was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire in 1993 and became an honorary fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry. Schools, such as the Helen Sharman School in Assen, Netherlands, and one of the buildings at Wallington County Grammar School for Girls in Sutton, London, were named in her honor.

While several NASA astronauts hold both American and British citizenship, including Mark Shuttleworth, who paid nearly $20 million for a space journey, as of 2015, Helen Sharman remains the only official representative of the United Kingdom to have traveled to space.