1991: Helen Sharman becomes first Briton in space
Helen Sharman, the UK鈥檚 first astronaut, blasted into orbit on 18 May 1991.
She carried a photograph of the Queen, a butterfly brooch given by her father and a 鈥渟pace passport鈥 in case her spacecraft was forced to land outside of the Soviet Union.
Sharman was selected from over 13,000 applicants to be the British member of the Russian scientific space mission, Project Juno, and undertook 18 months of training. She had originally answered an advertisement she heard on a car radio: 鈥淎stronaut wanted. No experience necessary.鈥
麻豆官网首页入口 Archive: Originally broadcast on 18 May 1991.