Dimensions 90mm x 60mm approx, full colour embroidered insignia for Helen Sharman First Briton in Space, Soyuz TM-12 Juno Mission 25th Anniversary Patch (1991-2016)

Designed by the renowned space artist Luc van den Abeelen this limited edition patch, one of only 200 was commissioned for the exclusive use of Spaceboosters Limited to commemorate the historic flight of Helen Sharman CMG,OBE, the first Briton in space.

Helen Patricia Sharman, CMG, OBE (born 30 May 1963) is a British chemist who became the first British astronaut and the first woman to visit the Mir space station in 1991. She received a BSc in chemistry at the University of Sheffield in 1984 and a PhD from Birkbeck, University of London. She worked as chemist for Mars Inc. and responded to a radio advertisement to become the first British astronaut.

She was chosen ahead of more than 13,000 applicants. Before flying into space, Sharman spent 18 months in intensive flight training in Star City. The Project Juno consortium failed to raise the monies expected, and the programme was almost cancelled. With a view towards the flight's impact on international relations, the project proceeded under Soviet expense.

The Soyuz TM-12 mission, which included Soviet cosmonauts Anatoly Artsebarsky and Sergei Krikalev, launched on 18 May 1991 and lasted eight days, most of that time spent at the Mir space station. Sharman's tasks included medical and agricultural tests, photographing the British Isles, and participating in a licensed amateur radio link-up with British schoolchildren. She landed aboard Soyuz TM-11 on 26 May 1991, along with Viktor Afanasyev and Musa Manarov.