Astronaut Pedro Duque Will Take the Logo of the European Year of Persons with Disabilities into Space
By Lola Gil (Solidaridad Digital)

Pedro Duque, Spanish astronaut, leaves next Saturday to the International Space Station carrying the logo of the European Year of Persons with Disabilities on his space suit.

This is a way by which the astronaut indicates his support for the efforts and the work many people and institutions are doing toward achieving full participation of Europeans with disabilities.

This space flight was named the Cervantes Mission, because its objectives are to perform the experiments of European scientists, most of them from Spain.

During his 8 day stay at the International Space Station, the astronaut will dedicate about 40 hours to performing experiments regarding life science, physics, observation of the Earth, education, and new technologies. Pedro Duque will send a Declaration of Support during an interview from space.

Pedro Duque's first space flight was in 1998, on the Discovery together with long time astronaut John Glenn, among others. At that memorable occasion, Duque was responsible for 29 of the 80 experiments conducted.

2003 has been declared the European Year of Persons with Disabilities, by the European Commission. The objectives of the year are to make people aware of the barriers confronted by persons with disabilities that prevent them to fully participate in society.