First British astronaut to orbit Earth reveals how her perspective changed during her eight-day mission as two astronauts remain stranded at the ISS

Helen Sharman, the first British astronaut to go to space, has told how she learned what really matters in life during her eight days orbiting Earth in May 1991. 

The 61-year-old, from Sheffield, revealed that her perspective changed dramatically, with ‘material things’ becoming almost irrelevant compared with ‘the value of humans and human relationships.’

Helen reflected on her experience in space on ITV’s This Morning on Friday.

Her appearance comes after the news that the 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 an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 1992 Birthday Honours, likened the mindset shift that occurred when she was in space to the change in perspective that many people experience after a holiday abroad. 

She said: ‘I think everybody has some sort of thought process that you go through even if you just go on holiday to other parts of the Earth.

‘It’s when you look back on the life that you’ve left behind, it gives you a different kind of perspective, doesn’t it?

‘You see it through different eyes almost and I did the same in space.’

The chemist and astronaut, who was 27 when she went to space, shared how she and her fellow crew members 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. 

She added: ‘I realised what I had not thought about in space was any of those material items – the physical stuff we aspire to own so much of and show off about quite often.

‘That really put material items into perspective compared with the value of humans and human relationships.’

This Morning hosts Josie Gibson and Craig Doyle were delighted to have Helen on the show, describing her as ‘an impressive human being’.

Josie added that she would love to have dinner with the astronaut one day. 

Helen, who was just 27 when she went to space in May 1991, told how material items became almost irrelevant when she was orbiting the Earth

Helen was invited onto the show to help explain to viewers why the NASA astronauts currently stuck in space are unable to return to Earth. 

Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore’s mission, which launched in early June, was meant 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 now been told that they may not be able to return to Earth until February 2025.  

Referring to the faulty spacecraft, Helen explained: ‘On its arrival at the International Space Station it had some problems with its thrusters – these little rocket engines around the back side of it – that basically steer it.’

Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore (pictured) are currently stranded at the International Space Station due to a fault with their spacecraft  

She added that it can’t really be fixed and described NASA’s view regarding getting the astronauts home as ‘very risk averse’ due to the 2003 tragedy which saw the Columbia spacecraft break up in the atmosphere on its return to Earth, killing all seven crew members. 

Helen elaborated, explaining that because NASA has alternate ways of getting the astronauts back, they are not prepared to risk them coming home in a spacecraft that they can’t be absolutely sure will get them home safely. 

She did, however, reassure viewers that the astronauts had access to ‘a very, very good supply of food’ at the International Space Station, explaining that there’s ‘typically four months of food supplies.’ 

‘They generate their own oxygen on the International Space Station and they recycle most of their own water, with a little bit of extra water from earth every now and again,’ she said. 

Helen added that one 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 rather than four to leave room for the two stranded astronauts.