Sandra Benes

Space:1999 character|if=
bgcolor = yellow
fgcolor = black
Title = Sandra Benes


Caption =
Species = Human
Gender = Female
Appearance = 'Breakaway'
Height = 5'2"
Hair color = Black
Eye color = Brown
Birth = May 3, 1973, Brunei, Borneo
Death =
Planet = Earth
Affiliation = Moonbase Alpha
Posting =
Rank = Data Analyst
Section = Service
Portrayed = Zienia Merton|

Sandra Benes is a recurring character in the British science-fiction television show . Her role was played by actress Zienia Merton. Her position on Moonbase Alpha was that of data analyst. Often appearing at command briefings, her role was to summarize relevant data for the command staff. For instance, in several episodes she summarized the findings of scientific surveys of alien planets for Moonbase Alpha's Commander, John Koenig, and Professor Victor Bergman, the base's chief scientist.

Prior to the moon breaking away from Earth orbit, Sandra was engaged to be married to Peter Rockwell, a pilot.

Sandra's character role was downgraded in the second season of the show, and she appeared in only half that season's episodes. She was also called Sahn throughout the second season, causing confusion in some of the episode novelizations where the authors erroneously made her character male due to misinterpreting this name change as a different character.

In 1999, Zienia Merton reprised her role of Sandra Benes in a short film entitled "Message From Moonbase Alpha"; in it she told of how the moonbase's life-support systems were failing after so many years in space, and that the moonbase personnel had decided to move to a nearby planet and colonize it. The film was intended to provide a final "goodbye" to fans of the series 25 years after it was originally aired.