Pedro Duque, John Glenn, Chiaki Mukai and Valeri Poliakov Prince of Asturias Award for International Cooperation 1999

The Jury for the 1999 Prince of Asturias Award for International Co- operation, convened in Oviedo, comprised of Mr. Enrique Álvarez, Mr. Agustín Antuña, Mr. Enrique Fernández-Miranda, Mr. Fernando Ramón Fernández Noval, Mr. Antonio Garrigues Walker, Mr. Martín González del Valle, Mr. Guillermo Kirkpatrick, Mr. Marcelino Oreja Aguirre, Mr. Francisco Pinto Balsemão, Mr. Gregorio Rodríguez Pasero, Mr. Luis Ruiz de Gopegui Miguel, Mr. Alfonso de Salas, Mr. Ovidio Sánchez, Mr. Nicolás Sartorius, Mr. Alfonso de la Serna, Mr. Gustavo Suárez Pertierra, Mr. Santiago Zaldumbide Viadas, chaired by Mr. Leopoldo Calvo Sotelo, with Mr. Teodoro López-Cuesta Egocheaga as secretary, has decided unanimously to bestow the 1999 Prince of Asturias Award for International Co- operation on the architects of the pacific exploration of the universe.

The panel of judges wish to express their acknowledgement of the Organisations and States of the International Community that have contributed to progress in exploration by making common use of technical and human resources from different countries.

Many people and organisations, in fields ranging from scientific research to air traffic control, have made space exploration possible. The Panel of judges wish to acknowledge this by bestowing the award on four astronauts who are felt to symbolise this joint task in space exploration, in which common aims are pursued for the benefit of mankind.

These astronauts are John Glenn, Chiaki Mukai, Valery Polyakov and Pedro Duque. They, along with all those of different nationalities who work to ensure communication between spacecraft and Earth, are showing in practice that international co-operation is not an impossible Utopia; the adventure of outer space proves this, and will be a fine example for those in other fields and for the future progress of mankind.

This is the first occasion on which an international award has acknowledged the work being carried out in the conquest of space, and the example that this sets for Humanity. This work is symbolised in four astronauts representing NASA, the American agency (Glenn), the European Space Agency (Duque), NASDA (Mukai, a woman from the Japanese agency,), and the Russian agency RKA (Polyakov, the Russian who holds the world record for remaining in space).

Oviedo, 16th June 1999