History
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 commemorate those astronauts and cosmonauts who have lost their lives in the furtherance of space exploration. Van Hoeydonck was given a set of design restrictions: that the sculpture was to be both lightweight and sturdy, capable of withstanding the temperature extremes of the Moon; it could not be identifiably male or female, nor of any identifiable ethnic group. In accordance with Scott's wish to avoid the commercialization of space, Van Hoeydonck's name would not be made public.
Read more about this topic: Fallen Astronaut
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