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Spare a thought for Helen Sharman, actually the first British-born astronaut who ascended to Mir in May 1991 in the 'pre-Twitter' era. Even wore a Union Flag a

Spare a thought for Helen Sharman, actually the first British-born astronaut who ascended to Mir in May 1991 in the 'pre-Twitter' era. Even wore a Union Flag arm-patch... http://www.americaspace.com/?p=35932 http://www.americaspace.com/?p=35932

jackgavigan 11y ago
Helen's trip to space was primarily funded privately (with the Soviet Union making up the shortfall). Tim is the UK's first official astronaut - i.e. he's being paid to go to space, rather than paying to do so.
eponeponepon 11y ago
In fairness, most of the coverage I've seen (at least in reputable publications) has been very clear that he's the first British citizen on board the ISS, rather than the first British astronaut. I'm sure that won't stop half the country reading the headlines and getting the wrong idea, but hey ho.
- bofussing 11y ago
  Michael Foale (dual American and British Citizen) was on the Internation Space Station in 2003. He still holds the cumulative-time-in-space record for a UK citizen. He was a NASA astronaut whilst on the ISS. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Foale https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Foale
- rtkwe 11y ago
  Isn't he the first to do it as an ESA astronaut instead of through NASA with dual citizenship (but as a US trained astronaut) or through a Russian space tourism junket? It's a pretty big deal to get to send your own astronaut up vs just having a citizen up there but working for a different agency IMO.
hoorayimhelping 11y ago
She was the first Briton in space. She didn't go through astronaut training so she wasn't actually an official astronaut which is what the article is claiming. Not sure what it being pre-twitter has to do with anything, though.
rmc 11y ago
But this is a man!
- ibmthrowaway271 11y ago
  He's the 6th Brit in space, the 5th man. > https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn28666-first-official-uk-astronaut-tim-peake-takes-fast-route-to-iss/ https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn28666-first-official-... " Despite what you may have heard, Peake is actually the sixth Brit in space. The first was chemist Helen Sharman, who flew to the Russian Mir space station in 1991 as part of Project Juno, a jointly funded mission between a private consortium and Russia. She was followed by the British-born astronauts Michael Foale, Piers Sellers and Nicholas Patrick, who all took US citizenship and flew on NASA missions, and Richard Garriott, a video game developer who went to the ISS as a space tourist. "
bshimmin 11y ago
I was pretty young at the time, but Helen Sharman was a really big deal back then, Twitter or no Twitter. I imagine most British people in their early thirties or older would remember the name with only a bit of prompting (though I concede it would be a moderately challenging "pub quiz" trivia question).
gadders 11y ago
That's as maybe, but Tim Peake also claimed a another first - first Ginger in space. I should point out he has claimed this himself. http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/the-times/gingernaut-to-boldy-push-medical-frontier/news-story/4b233aa4c8a9cbceadf1d38da238f4dd http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/the-times/gingern...

jackgavigan 11y ago

Helen's trip to space was primarily funded privately (with the Soviet Union making up the shortfall). Tim is the UK's first official astronaut - i.e. he's being paid to go to space, rather than paying to do so.

eponeponepon 11y ago

In fairness, most of the coverage I've seen (at least in reputable publications) has been very clear that he's the first British citizen on board the ISS, rather than the first British astronaut. I'm sure that won't stop half the country reading the headlines and getting the wrong idea, but hey ho.

bofussing 11y ago
Michael Foale (dual American and British Citizen) was on the Internation Space Station in 2003. He still holds the cumulative-time-in-space record for a UK citizen. He was a NASA astronaut whilst on the ISS. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Foale https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Foale
rtkwe 11y ago
Isn't he the first to do it as an ESA astronaut instead of through NASA with dual citizenship (but as a US trained astronaut) or through a Russian space tourism junket? It's a pretty big deal to get to send your own astronaut up vs just having a citizen up there but working for a different agency IMO.

hoorayimhelping 11y ago

She was the first Briton in space. She didn't go through astronaut training so she wasn't actually an official astronaut which is what the article is claiming. Not sure what it being pre-twitter has to do with anything, though.

rmc 11y ago

But this is a man!

ibmthrowaway271 11y ago
He's the 6th Brit in space, the 5th man. > https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn28666-first-official-uk-astronaut-tim-peake-takes-fast-route-to-iss/ https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn28666-first-official-... " Despite what you may have heard, Peake is actually the sixth Brit in space. The first was chemist Helen Sharman, who flew to the Russian Mir space station in 1991 as part of Project Juno, a jointly funded mission between a private consortium and Russia. She was followed by the British-born astronauts Michael Foale, Piers Sellers and Nicholas Patrick, who all took US citizenship and flew on NASA missions, and Richard Garriott, a video game developer who went to the ISS as a space tourist. "

bshimmin 11y ago

I was pretty young at the time, but Helen Sharman was a really big deal back then, Twitter or no Twitter. I imagine most British people in their early thirties or older would remember the name with only a bit of prompting (though I concede it would be a moderately challenging "pub quiz" trivia question).

gadders 11y ago

That's as maybe, but Tim Peake also claimed a another first - first Ginger in space. I should point out he has claimed this himself. http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/the-times/gingernaut-to-boldy-push-medical-frontier/news-story/4b233aa4c8a9cbceadf1d38da238f4dd http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/the-times/gingern...