Crystal Helmet Planetary Award
At each Congress, the Association of Space Explorers presents its Planetary Award, the Crystal Helmet, to an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to the advancement and understanding of the theme subject of that year's Congress. In 1990, Dutch astronaut and ASE member Wubbo Ockels asked the Royal Leerdam company, makers, designers, sculptors and etchers of Dutch crystal, to create the Planetary Award for ASE based on the original ASE logo design by founding ASE member and artist Alexei Leonov.
The award consists of a solid crystal sphere set in a thin rectangular standing crystal block. The front of the sphere is etched to depict a space helmet with a translucent visor. The back of the sphere is etched with blue ocean and seas adjacent to a translucent European continent. As viewed from the front, the visor appears to reflect the lands and seas on the back, which appear in reverse orientation as they would in an astronaut's faceplate. The sphere also symbolically represents the eyeball of an astronaut looking back at the Earth, which is projected in reverse on the retina. The reflection of the Earth underscores the role of astronauts serving as a mirrors for humanity.
