Fallen Astronaut

"Fallen Astronaut" is an 8.5cm (slightly over 3") aluminium sculpture of an astronaut in a spacesuit. It is currently at Hadley Rille on the Moon, having been placed there by the crew of Apollo 15.

History of Sculpture

It was created by Belgian artist Paul Van Hoeydonck, who met astronaut David Scott at a dinner party. Van Hoeydonck was asked to create a small statuette to personally commemorate those astronauts and cosmonauts having lost their lives in the furtherance of space exploration. Van Hoeydonck was given a set of design restrictions: in addition to the physical requirements that the sculpture be both lightweight and sturdy, and that it be capable of withstanding the temperature extremes of the Moon, the statuette could not be identifiably male or female, nor of any identifiable ethnic group. Furthermore, in accordance with Scott's wish to avoid the commercialization of space, Van Hoeydonck's name would not be made public.

Names of Those Listed With Sculpture

In 1971, "Fallen Astronaut" was placed on the Moon by the crew of Apollo 15, along with a plaque bearing the names of eight American astronauts and six Soviet cosmonauts who had died:

*Theodore Freeman (October 31 1964, "aircraft accident")
*Charles Bassett (February 28 1966, "aircraft accident")
*Elliott See (February 28 1966, "aircraft accident")
*Gus Grissom (January 27 1967, "Apollo 1 fire")
*Roger Chaffee (January 27 1967, "Apollo 1 fire")
*Edward White (January 27 1967, "Apollo 1 fire")
*Vladimir Komarov (April 24 1967, "Soyuz 1 re-entry parachute failure")
*Edward Givens (June 6 1967 "automobile accident")
*Clifton Williams (October 5 1967, "aircraft accident")
*Yuri Gagarin (March 27 1968, "aircraft accident")
*Pavel Belyayev (January 10 1970, "disease")
*Georgi Dobrovolski (June 30 1971, "Soyuz 11 re-entry pressurization failure")
*Viktor Patsayev (June 30 1971, "Soyuz 11 re-entry pressurization failure")
*Vladislav Volkov (June 30 1971, "Soyuz 11 re-entry pressurization failure")

Commander of the Apollo 15 mission David Scott notes that "Sadly, two names are missing (from the plaque), those of Valentin Bondarenko and Grigori Nelyubov". Scott explains that because of the secrecy surrounding the Soviet space program at the time, they were unaware of their deaths.

In addition, two USAF astronauts who died in 1967, Michael James Adams who died in a X15 accident and Robert Henry Lawrence, Jr., the first black astronaut and part of the Manned Orbiting Laboratory Program who died in a training accident, were not on the plaque. Both astronauts are remembered on the Space Mirror Memorial.

Aftermath

After the crew mentioned the statuette during their post-flight press conference, the National Air and Space Museum requested that a replica be made for public display. The crew agreed, under the condition that it was to be displayed "with good taste and without publicity"; in April 1972, Van Hoeydonck presented the Museum with a replica of "Fallen Astronaut", which is now on display with a replica of the plaque.

In May 1972, David Scott learned that Van Hoeydonck planned to make more replicas and sell them. Feeling that this would be a violation of the spirit of their agreement, Scott tried to persuade Van Hoeydonck to refrain. It was advertised, in a full-page advertisement in the July 1972 issue of "Artin America" magazine [Citation
last = Associated Press
first =
author-link =
last2 =
first2 =
author2-link =
title = Commercialism Taints Another Apollo Memento
newspaper = Modesto Bee
pages = page 7
year =
date =21 July 1972
url = http://www.newspaperarchive.com/PdfViewerTags.aspx?
] [ [http://www.check-six.com/lib/Fallen_Astros.htm Check-Six.com - 'Fallen Astronaut'] - includes copy of July 1972 "Art in America" ad] , that 950 replicas of the "Fallen Astronaut" figurine signed by the sculptor were going to be sold by the Waddell Gallery of New York at a price of $750 apiece. [ [http://www.collectspace.com/resources/flown_a15_articlescarried.html NASA News Release 72-189] ] , a second edition at a lower but unspecified price, and a catalog edition at $5. [Citation
last = Wieck
first = Paul
author-link =
last2 =
first2 =
author2-link =
title = Anderson Will Probe Unauthorized Sales
newspaper = Albuquerque Journal
pages = page 16
year =
date = 25 July 1972
url = http://www.newspaperarchive.com/PdfViewerTags.aspx?
]

After the negative comments from NASA regarding the intended sale, Van Hoeydonck retracted his permission for it and none were sold. [, pub.1980, ISBN 90-209-0885-5]

In a letter of September 2007 Paul Van Hoeydonck writes that only 50 copies were ever made and that most of those are still in his possession, unsigned. With the exception of one copy, Van Hoeydonck writes that he had never received any money for a statue of the Fallen Astronaut despite many offers to do so. []

Van Hoeydonck recalls a different set of events leading to the creation of the artifact. According to an interview with the artist in Belgian newspaper "De Morgen", the statue was supposed to be a representation of all mankind, not simply fallen astronauts or cosmonauts. Ultimately, he has stated, Van Hoeydonck did not know the statue would be used as a memorial for the fallen spacegoers.Fact|date=May 2008

ee also

*List of space disasters
*Space Mirror Memorial

Sources

External links

* [http://www.collectspace.com/resources/flown_a15_articlescarried.html Transcript of NASA News Release 72-189 (September 15, 1972), describing the origin of "Fallen Astronaut" and the subsequent controversy]
* [http://images.jsc.nasa.gov/luceneweb/fullimage.jsp?photoId=AS15-88-11894 Official NASA photo of "Fallen Astronaut" on the Moon]
* [http://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/a15/a15.clsout3.html Apollo 15 Lunar Surface Journal]