And so, Helen Sharman consciously re-embraced life as a mere mortal, and the sheer amount of time that passed between her voyage and Tim Peakes meant that, by the time his mission came, history seemed to have been rebooted. Sharman became the first Briton to journey into space, Imperial College Londons chemistry department. She was born on 30 May 1963, making her 48 now. HISTORY's Forgotten People: The Man Who Nearly Succeeded Stalin. Today, at 52, Sharman is operations manager of Imperial College Londons chemistry department. Two were eventually picked to train at Moscows Star City. Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. It costs just 4.34 a month for a weekly entry into the draw and your money will help people like Chris to die with dignity. Helen has said that she thinks aliens do exist and might even be on Earth! The view from space is really very special. She is the first of seven Brits to have become an astronaut. Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features. //-->