Helen Sharman

Who is Helen Sharman?

Helen Patricia Sharman, OBE PhD, is a British chemist who became the first Briton in space and the first woman to visit the Mir space station.

Sharman was born in Grenoside, Sheffield, 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 dealing 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.