The first British woman in space - indeed the first British astronaut! - was Helen Sharman. Chosen to train as an astronaut, Sharman was the first woman to visit the Mir space station. The mission, which included Soviet cosmonauts Anatoly Artsebarsky and Sergei Krikalev, was launched on May 18, 1991, and lasted eight days. On board Mir, Sharman carried out a series of experiments. Since then she's continued her work as a scientist as well as doing science outreach work.

The first Briton in Space - a 3-minute video from the Science Museum in London.