Helen Sharman's Mir Hygiene Kit
Helen Sharman's Mir Hygiene Kit
This hygiene kit was used by the first British astronaut, Helen Sharman, during her mission to the Mir space station. It contains toothpicks, a comb, a hairbrush, a toothbrush and a nail file. The hygiene kit was designed to keep the items secure, so that they didn't float away in the microgravity environment.Keeping clean in space is challenging as water behaves very differently to how it does on Earth. For example, astronauts have to either swallow their toothpaste or spit it into a towel, as conventional sinks with running water are out of the question.
Helen Sharman responded to an advert seeking an astronaut with, ‘no experience necessary’, whilst working as a specialist in chocolate flavouring at the Mars confectionery company. After being selected ahead of over 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.
More information
Object number
L2001-36
Location
Into Space Gallery
Has this object been into space?
Yes
Dimension - Dimension, Value, Measurement unit
Depth: 0.5cm
Height: 20cm
Width: 30cm
Material
Nylon
Velcro
Plastic
Stainless Steel
Object Production Date
Circa 1991
Object Production Place
Russia
Credit Line
On loan from Dr Helen Sharman CMG OBE FRSC
On Display Status
On display
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