Dr Helen Sharman

Unusually for me I went to a regional WI meeting, but only to listen to a talk by Dr Helen Sharman.   Unfortunately she was very animated hence the blurred photo.  I have an unblurred one of the West Kent WI Council members sitting nicely at the table but I did not go to see them, so a blurred Helen Sharman is what I have decided to post today.
She was the first British astronaut.  Wasn't that Tim Peake I hear you ask?  No it was Helen Sharman. Tim Peake was the first British astronaut paid for by the British Government. He went into space in 2012.  Helen went into space in 1991 in a project sponsored by the Russian Government which likely came about because of the rapport between Margaret Thatcher  and Mikhail Gorbachev.   At  that time the UK did not have a space programme and they were happy for the Russians to train our astronauts.  Helen had to spend 3 months learning Russian before she could begin her astronaut training. Her talk was very very interesting. Well worth sitting through the WI admin stuff for.  She now manages the Chemistry Department at Imperial College