Experiment Book Flown on the Mir Space Station

Experiment Book Flown on the Mir Space Station

Experimentation book used by Helen Sharman during her flight to the Mir space station in 1991. It contains annotations and notes handwritten in pencil.

Helen Sharman became the first British person in space, when she travelled to the Mir space station during the Project Juno mission. Sharman had responded to an advert seeking an astronaut, ‘no experience necessary’, whilst working as a specialist in chocolate flavouring at the Mars confectionery company. After being selected ahead of 12,000 other candidates, she received training at the Soviet Union’s cosmonaut training facility at Star City. She launched on 18 May 1991, forever etching her name into the history of British exploration.

During the mission, Helen carried out several experiments. She investigated the effects of weightlessness on plants and the human body - this included taking seeds into space, which, on their return from space, were used in a school experiment against a control set of seeds that didn't leave Earth. She also used an experimental air lock to expose a rack of ceramic films to space, to find out how they would react to the harsh environment. As well as growing protein crystals and investigating new materials, Helen also monitored the Earth from space and made contact with UK school children using an amateur radio system.