Helen Sharman. She is from England. Theres no two ways about it.. While Tim Peake was showered in adulation complete with a social media frenzy and proudly-publicised photos of Prime Minister David Cameron watching the majors historic journey to the International Space Station some remembered that, in the not so dim-and-distant past, Helen Sharman basked in the same kind of glory, only without the hashtags. Astronauts make first all-female spacewalk, Nasa's historic first helicopter flight on Mars a success, Astronauts arrive safely on ISS after historic flight. It was a tense period, a bit like being on a reality series with contestants being steadily eliminated one by one. UP-2010, Helen was awarded the Order of Friendship of Peoples. TheFutonCritic.com is the web's best resource for breaking news and press releases about primetime television. Since becoming Britain's first astronaut in 1991, and the first woman to visit the Mir space station, Helen Sharman, a member of the Association of Space Explorers, has carried out a huge number . Get Direction. On 25th November 1989, it was publicly announced that Helen Sharman had been chosen to become an astronaut - making her the first British person, and the first European woman, to travel into space. Her self-imposed anonymity has gradually come to an end now the intensity of her fame has receded, yet most students here are unaware that among the staff is one of only 59 women to go to space. //-->