Fallen Astronaut

Fallen Astronaut is an 8.5 cm large aluminum sculpture depicting a spaceman in a space suit. Together with an associated metal plate it is the only work of art on the moon.

Fallen Astronaut was created by the Belgian artist Paul Van Hoeydonck who met the Apollo 15 astronauts David Scott at a dinner party. Van Hoeydonck was commissioned to create a small statuette to commemorate those astronauts and cosmonauts who had lost their lives to participate in the exploration of outer space. The conditions for Van Hoeydoncks work were: The sculpture should be compact and robust in order to withstand the extreme temperature conditions on the Moon, the statuette should be neither a man nor a woman posing, his associate nor any identifiable ethnic group. It should also Van Hoeydoncks authorship, in prevention of commercialization of space, not be published.

During the Apollo 15 mission, the artwork of the two astronauts Dave Scott and James Irwin was erected on the moon at the Hadley - Apennine landing site on together with a metal plate. The plate contains the names of eight U.S. astronauts and six Soviet cosmonauts who died as an active astronaut:

  • Theodore Freeman († October 31, 1964, plane crash )
  • Charles Bassett († February 28, 1966, plane crash )
  • Elliott Lake († February 28, 1966, plane crash )
  • Gus Grissom († January 27, 1967, fire of Apollo 1 )
  • Roger Chaffee († January 27, 1967, fire of Apollo 1 )
  • Edward White († January 27, 1967, fire of Apollo 1 )
  • Vladimir Komarov († April 24, 1967, parachute accident during landing process with Soyuz 1)
  • Edward Givens ( † 6 June 1967 car accident )
  • Clifton Williams ( † October 5, 1967, plane crash )
  • Yuri Gagarin († March 27, 1968, plane crash )
  • Pavel Belyayev ( † 10 January 1970 Death after peritonitis )
  • Georgi Dobrovolsky ( † 30 June 1971 cabin decompression during landing with Soyuz 11)
  • Viktor Pazajew ( † 30 June 1971 cabin decompression during landing with Soyuz 11)
  • Vladislav Volkov ( † 30 June 1971 cabin decompression during landing with Soyuz 11)

After the Apollo 15 crew mentioned the work of art in a press conference after the moon flight, demanded the National Air and Space Museum that is a replica of the public should be made ​​. The team agreed to this suggestion on the condition that this should be done " with good taste and without publicity ." In April 1972, Van Hoeydonck presented for the museum creates a replica of the Fallen Astronaut, which is now to visit with a copy of the metal plate.

In an interview with the Belgian newspaper De Morgen Van Hoeydonck explained that he thought the statue was a representation of all mankind on the moon, not only of deceased astronauts or cosmonauts, he did not know that the statue as a memorial to the fallen astronauts was intended.

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