Spain’s Astronaut Pedro Duque Is IEEE Honorary Member

Almost 30 years after his first mission, Duque remains to be Spain’s most well-known astronaut. Three public colleges have been named after him, and he has acquired quite a few awards. This 12 months, the IEEE Board of Directors made him an IEEE honorary member for “contributions to space exploration, management in collaborative science and know-how applications, and serving as a job mannequin for youthful generations.”

He was unable to attend the 24 April ceremony in New York City, however he expressed his gratitude in recorded acceptance remarks in his award presentation proven through the occasion.

“We engineers of all specialties acknowledge the management of your institute—the biggest and most necessary engineering society on the planet,” he says within the video. “What an honor it’s to belong now to a corporation whose objective it’s to foster technological innovation and excellence for the good thing about humanity.”

Impressed by Apollo 11

Duque says he knew he wished to be an engineer from a younger age. It’s not shocking that he turned excited by aeronautics, as his father was an air visitors controller who defined to him how airplanes labored.

In 1969, when he was 6 years outdated, he was impressed to change into an astronaut after watching the Apollo 11 moon landing.

“I didn’t know anybody who wasn’t interested in house exploration,” after the moon touchdown, he says, laughing. “It was introduced in such an epic method, with declarations about its influence on society. The touchdown made us conscious that humanity was exploring new locations, and I used to be eager on understanding extra about them.”

His dream of changing into an astronaut was unrealistic on the time, he says, as a result of the nation had no house program. Spain was dominated by Francisco Franco, who spent little to no cash on scientific innovation, Duque says.

That modified after Franco died in 1975. The nation transitioned to a democratic constitutional monarchy and started taking part in analysis and growth applications, significantly with the European Space Agency (ESA).

Astronaut duties

Duque earned an aeronautical engineering diploma in 1986 from the aeronautical and space engineering school on the Polytechnic University of Madrid.

His first job was as an engineer within the flight dynamics group at GMV, an area and know-how firm primarily based in Madrid. He was a member of the orbit dedication group and labored at ESA’s European Space Operations Centre, in Darmstadt, Germany. He helped develop algorithms, orbit computational software program, and laptop fashions.

He was additionally a member of the house company’s flight control workforce for the European Remote Sensing-1 satellite, launched in 1991, and the European Retrievable Carrier, launched in 1992 on the space shuttle Atlantis’s STS-46 mission.

In 1990, ESA recruited candidates for its astronaut program—which Duque says not often occurs. He and several other colleagues utilized.

“Why not?” he says. “What we thought we wished to be after we have been little was now attainable.”

After a substantial choice course of, Duque was chosen in 1992 to hitch the company’s Astronaut Corps. He skilled on the European Astronaut Centre and on the Russian Cosmonaut Coaching Middle (now often known as the Gagarin Research and Test Cosmonaut Training Center).

In 1994, he served because the prime crew interface coordinator on the ESA–Russian EuroMir house station. He managed communication between the astronauts on the Mir station and the European scientists to assist guarantee orbital experiments and operations ran easily.

NASA chosen Duque to be an alternate payload specialist on the bottom for house shuttle Columbia’s STS-78 mission in 1996. In that position, he was skilled to function and handle scientific experiments, gear, and cargo throughout a crewed mission. He additionally supported the flight from the bottom as a crew interface coordinator.

His first flight into house was in 1998 as a mission specialist representing the ESA on the house shuttle Discovery’s STS-95 mission. He managed in-orbit duties, experiments, spacewalks, and gear operations.

He served as a flight engineer in 2003 onboard the Soyuz TMA-3 Cervantes, a joint mission between Russia and Spain to the International Space Station. He operated the station programs, managed every day upkeep duties, and carried out scientific experiments assisted by the mission commander.

Recollections of flying with John Glenn

The years of coaching and preparation to change into an astronaut have been rigorous, he says, however the expertise was fulfilling. Despite the fact that he spent solely about 10 days on every mission, he says, “they have been very rewarding instances as a result of all of the preparation paid off, and we obtained the outcomes we would have liked.”

A few of his favourite reminiscences have been viewing Earth through the day and evening for the primary time, and watching it cross from one part to the opposite. One other was seeing the moon flattened to nearly a sliver through the few seconds earlier than it set. Experiencing microgravity was a thrill as properly, he says.

“I additionally cherish the companionship of the individuals who labored alongside me in house and on the bottom,” he provides.

One was John H. Glenn, the primary American to orbit the Earth. Duque flew with Glenn on Discovery. They talked in regards to the choice standards for astronauts. Glenn informed him these on board the Apollo and Gemini missions have been chosen as a result of they have been check pilots, who have been considered more than likely to deal with issues or failures successfully and proactively.

“The know-how in at this time’s missions is superior sufficient that astronauts gained’t be wanted to deal with possible catastrophic gear failures,” Duque says. “As a substitute, they are going to carry out experiments and replace or repair the units utilized in house capsules. However flights to the moon and even Mars will use new forms of spacecraft that may not essentially work as deliberate, so these astronauts must know the right way to repair them and presumably resolve essential issues on their very own.

“Additionally, future astronauts must dwell with others in a confined house for months, and never everybody can try this.”

The worth of sudden fame

As Spain’s first astronaut, Duque turned a celeb. Amongst his honors are Russia’s Order of Friendship and Spain’s Great Cross of Aeronautical Merit and Princess of Asturias Award. He additionally acquired NASA’s Space Flight Medal, which is given to an astronaut who flies aboard a U.S. house mission.

Studying to navigate sudden fame and being handled like a celeb was difficult, Duque says. Like many engineers, he was accustomed to working behind the scenes and out of the general public eye.

“Being well-known, each within the career and the general public, was fairly troublesome at first,” he says. “Being a celeb doesn’t come simply to me, however after so a few years, one way or the other I discovered the right way to cope with it.”

Individuals would possibly assume that an astronaut’s management abilities come effortlessly, Duque says, however that’s not all the time the case.

“Everyone provides a lot significance to your opinion, and generally I used to be stunned by that,” he says. “Being an astronaut, you are likely to have a sure type of management model as a result of it’s what you will have executed for years with out understanding it.”

Minister of science and different main roles

His management model has served him properly. After he retired from the ESA in 2018, he was appointed as Spain’s minister of science, a job he held till 2021. He oversaw the federal government’s insurance policies on scientific analysis, technological growth, innovation, house applications, and better schooling. Throughout his time period, Spain dedicated to contributing US $800 million (€701 million) between 2020 and 2026 to the ESA—which on the time was the biggest total funding within the company’s historical past.

After retiring as an astronaut, Pedro Duque headed Spain’s Ministry of Science, Innovation, and Universities. As we speak, the IEEE honorary member is the chairman of HispaSat, a Spanish satellite tv for pc firm.Isaac Buj/AP

In 2022, he joined Destinus Spain, a European protection producer that develops applied sciences for plane propulsion and auxiliary programs. He suggested its strategic committee.

The next 12 months, Spain’s authorities appointed him president and chairman of the HispaSat board. Headquartered in Madrid, the satellite tv for pc operator offers broadcasting and broadband companies for Europe, North Africa, and the Americas. The general public-private partnership was in its origin a joint initiative between the Spanish authorities and personal telecom firms.

The IEEE honor was a shock

Duque says he was stunned to study that IEEE added him to its membership ranks. He was conscious {that a} colleague had nominated him, however he deemed it unlikely the nomination could be supported.

“Once I began trying into who its members have been, I questioned why they chose me,” he says. “Clearly, electrical engineering isn’t my department, however it may have been, as a result of rising up, I used to be simply as excited by telecommunications as I used to be in aeronautics.

“Most engineers know IEEE for its requirements and the work it does in attaining consensus in requirements growth.”

After discussing with a number of colleagues who have been IEEE members in regards to the significance of the IEEE honorary membership—which is bestowed for a major achievement and influence on society— Duque feels the award is a major honor.

“I’m nonetheless within the early part of determining how I can contribute to IEEE,” he says, “and what I can do for the numerous tons of of hundreds of members, all whom have spectacular qualities.”