3
P
rince
of
A
sturias
A
wards
1981-2014. S
peeches
Laureates. Excerpts
In the depths of the Cold War in 1962, Gherman Titov —the second cosmonaut— and I both
presented papers on our respective flights at an international scientific meeting in Washington. The
Chairman of the meeting, Mr Van der Hulst, was from the Netherlands. He brought with him a pair
of old-style Dutch wooden shoes, one of which he presented to Titov and the other to me, along
with his wish that somehow, some day, we could find a way for the shoes to walk together in space.
Of course, his symbolic wish has now come true, not only for Russia and America, but for other
nations as well.
The days of the Cold War have now been consigned to history, and space has become an
example of beneficial international cooperation, with research results available to all.
In the past century we went from the first flight of an airplane to landing on the Moon. Only in
our imagination can we foresee what will transpire in the next hundred years.
John Glenn
—
Prince of Asturias
Award for International
Cooperation
1999
John Glenn was the first American to
orbit the Earth, in 1962, on board of
the
Friendship 7
spaceship.
—
Excerpt from the speech given on
the occasion of receiving the Prince
of Asturias Award for International
Cooperation on 22/10/1999.
