Helen Sharman

Astronaut wanted. No experience necessary.

An evening with British astronaut Helen Sharman.

She launched on 18 May 1991 to the Soviet space station MIR, becoming the first British woman in space.

On Sunday, 4 October, Helen will speak in the Paulussaal about her time in space and the future of space travel. In the second part, she will answer questions from the audience. The talk will be held in English.

A radio advert on a summer evening in 1989 was to set Helen Sharman’s life on a completely new course.

The chemist, who held a PhD, was on her way home from work at the confectionery manufacturer Mars Confectionery Ltd when she heard: “Astronaut wanted. No experience necessary”.

Helen applied and was selected in November 1989 from a pool of 13,000 applicants.

With her calm, practical and friendly manner, she was an excellent team player. Exactly the sort of person the selection panel had been looking for.

But she still had a long way to go before her departure on the Soviet Soyuz from Baikonur. For 18 months, she was prepared for life in space at Svyozdny Gorodok near Moscow: First she learnt Russian, then how to cope with weightlessness and navigate a cramped space capsule. Every conceivable scenario that could arise during a space flight at a speed of 17,500 miles per hour had to be run through.

Helen finally set off for the MIR space station on 18 May 1991, accompanied by two Soviet cosmonauts, for a six-day mission. Once on the space station, her duties included conducting experiments in medicine, agricultural technology and chemistry.

She became the first British female astronaut.

Every day, she and the crew were exposed to high levels of risk. The key factor in the mission’s success was teamwork.

Helen was subsequently nominated for two further flights, but was not selected. She never returned to space. Like any other astronaut, she would love to go back there: to experience the feeling of weightlessness and that team spirit once more. And the unique and beautiful views of Earth and the stars from up there.

After her spaceflight, Helen turned to science communication and worked as a TV commentator. She won several awards for her radio and television programmes.

She provided media coverage of the spaceflight of the second British astronaut, Tim Peake, to the International Space Station (ISS) from December 2015 to June 2016. When SpaceX, Elon Musk’s space company, launched its first crewed flight to the ISS in May 2020, Helen’s expertise and analysis were in high demand worldwide for TV and radio interviews.

The historic Artemis II mission, carrying four astronauts to the Moon, is imminent. Helen Sharman is once again involved in media coverage with the BBC, ITV and Sky for the launch of the Artemis II SLS rocket.

Wir möchten mit Barzahlung an der Abendkasse den Erhalt des Bargelds unterstützen. Die elektronische Zahlung mit diversen Karten ist aber auch möglich.