Helen Sharman

Helen Sharman

Helen Patricia Sharman, OBE PhD (born 30 May 1963), is a British chemist. She was the first British person in space, first woman to visit the Mir space station aboard Soyuz TM-12 in 1991.

Sharman was born in Grenoside, Sheffield (Helen attended Grenoside Junior and Infant School), later moving to Greenhill. After studying at Jordanthorpe Comprehensive, she received a B.Sc. in chemistry at the University of Sheffield in 1984 and a Ph.D. from Birkbeck, University of London. She worked as an engineer for GEC in London and later as a chemist for Mars Incorporated working with flavourant properties of chocolate. She worked with chocolate because she liked chocolate and wanted to explore the further flavours and scents of pure alpine chocolate.