Helen Sharman, the first British astronaut to go into space, has told how she learned what really matters in life during her eight days orbiting the Earth in May 1991.
The 61-year-old from Sheffield revealed her perspective changed dramatically and “material things” became almost irrelevant compared to “the value of humans and human relationships”.
Helen reflected on her experience in space on ITV’s This Morning on Friday.
Their appearance comes after news that Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore, the two NASA astronauts currently stranded on the International Space Station due to a faulty spacecraft, may not return to Earth until February 2025.
Helen, who was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 1992 Birthday Honours, compared the change in mindset that occurred when she was in space to the change in perspective many people experience after a holiday abroad.
Helen Sharman, 61 (pictured), was the first British astronaut to travel to space. She appeared on ITV’s This Morning today, where she reflected on her experience in space.
She said: ‘I think everyone has some sort of thought process that they go through even when they go on holiday to other parts of the Earth.
“When you look back at the life you’ve left behind, it gives you a different perspective, doesn’t it?
“You see it almost with different eyes and I did the same thing in space.”
The chemist and astronaut, who was 27 when she went into space, shared how she and her crewmates on the Soyuz TM-12 mission, which launched on May 18, 1991, “talked about our families and our friends that we left behind” during the mission.
He added: ‘I realised that what I hadn’t thought about in space was any of those material objects – the physical things we so aspire to possess and so often brag about.
“That really puts material objects into perspective compared to the value of human beings and human relationships.”
This Morning presenters Josie Gibson and Craig Doyle were delighted to have Helen on the show and described her as “an amazing human being”.
Josie added that she would love to have dinner with the astronaut one day.
Helen, who was just 27 when she went into space in May 1991, told how material objects became almost irrelevant when she was orbiting the Earth.
Helen was invited onto the show to help explain to viewers why NASA astronauts currently trapped in space cannot return to Earth.
Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore’s mission, which launched in early June, was supposed to last eight days, but the pair were unable to return due to a problem with the thrusters on their Boeing Starliner spacecraft.
The two astronauts have been told they may not be able to return to Earth until February 2025.
Referring to the faulty spacecraft, Helen explained:Upon arrival at the International Space Station It was having some issues with its thrusters, those little rocket engines that sit on the back of it that basically steer it.
Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore (pictured) are currently stranded on the International Space Station due to a malfunction in their spacecraft.
He added that this can’t really be fixed and described NASA’s view on returning astronauts home as “very risk-averse” because of the 2003 tragedy when the Columbia spacecraft broke up in the atmosphere on return to Earth, killing all seven crew members.
Helen explained that because NASA has alternative ways of bringing astronauts back, they are not prepared to take the risk of having them return home in a spacecraft that they cannot be absolutely sure will bring them home safely.
However, he assured viewers that astronauts had access to “a very, very good supply of food” on the International Space Station, explaining that “normally there is a four-month supply of food.”
“They generate their own oxygen on the International Space Station and recycle most of their own water, with a little extra water from Earth from time to time,” he said.
Helen added that a likely scenario is that Sunni and Butch will return on a Space X spacecraft in February. She suggested that it will take off with two crew members instead of four to make room for the two stranded astronauts.
