“We should push forward not only our own individual boundaries, but also the boundaries of what humans believe is possible. People are the biggest limitations in our own lives. There’s a huge amount we can do, and we should make the best use of our lives for the benefit of the world.”
Helen Sharman CMG OBE
Helen Sharman became the first British astronaut in May 1991, spending eight days orbiting the Earth.
A British company was set up to manage the mission and Helen was one of two Britons selected for astronaut training out of almost 13,000 applicants. The mission, named Project Juno, was a cooperative arrangement and would enable the UK to send one of its people into space for the first time.
Helen underwent a rigorous selection process, which focussed on psychological and medical assessments, including tolerance to high g and motion sickness, technical understanding and practical skills. This was followed by 18 months of intensive training that included preparing for launch, feeling weightless, spacecraft operations, emergency situations, working in space and being part of a crew.
In space, Helen’s tasks included medical, agricultural and chemical experiments, materials’ testing, Earth observation work and operating an amateur radio link with British school students. She also took some seeds into space with her that she brought back to Earth for British school students to use as part of a UK-wide experiment to investigate the effects of space travel on the seeds as compared with a control sample.
Coping with risk and a new working environment was an ever-present requirement and teamwork was a vital element in the success of the Mission.
Helen was not quite 28 years old when she became an astronaut. Born in Sheffield, Helen attended local schools and read chemistry at the University of Sheffield. She started her career in industry immediately after graduating, working in research and development for GEC in Hammersmith, London and later for Mars Confectionery in Slough. After her return from space, Helen spent many years communicating science and its benefits by speaking, presenting on radio and television and by organising science events for the public.
More recently, she has worked as a manager at the National Physical Laboratory in Teddington, at Kingston University London and at Imperial College London. Currently, Helen is UK Outreach Ambassador for Imperial College London.
Helen has not returned to space, although, like every other astronaut, she would love to be up there again, feeling weightless, experiencing the camaraderie and contemplating the views.
Alongside her science communication and other speaking engagements, Helen is President of the Institute of Science and Technology and she is a Royal Osteoporosis Society Ambassador. She enjoys running, hill and mountain walking, circuit training classes, yoga, listening to music and playing the piano and saxophone. Her interests include linguistics, social evolution and all other aspects of science.