Pedro Duque

Pedro Duque
The Most Excellent; Pedro Duque; OF OMSE
	Duque in 2020
Minister of Science and Innovation
	Incumbent
	Assumed office ; June 7, 2018
Monarch	Felipe VI
Prime Minister	Pedro Sánchez
Preceded by	Position established
Member of the Congress of Deputies
	In office; 21 May 2019 – 21 February 2020
Constituency	Alicante
Personal details
Born	14 March 1963 (age 57); Madrid, Spain
Nationality	Spanish
Political party	Independent
Spouse(s)	Lourdes García (divorced); Consuelo Femenía
Children	Andrés (b. 1988); Irene (b. 1996); Marc (b. 1998)
Occupation	Flight engineer
Awards	Grand Cross of Aeronautical Merit; Prince of Asturias Award for International Cooperation; Member of the Order of Friendship (Russian Federation); Medal "For Merit in Space Exploration"
Status	Retired
	Space career
ESA astronaut
Time in space	18d 18h 46min
Selection	1992 ESA Group
Missions	STS-95, Soyuz TMA-3/2
Mission insignia

Pedro Francisco Duque Duque, OF, OMSE (Madrid, 14 March 1963) is a Spanish astronaut and aeronautics engineer who serves as Minister of Science of the Government of Spain. He was also Member of the Congress of Deputies from May 2019 until February 2020.

Biography[edit]

Early life and education[edit]

He was born in Madrid in 1963, as the son of an agricultural engineer who worked as an air traffic controller, and a housewife from Badajoz. In 1986 Duque earned a degree in Aeronautical Engineering from the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid. In 1986 he worked for GMV and for the European Space Agency (ESA) for six years before being selected as an astronaut candidate in 1992.

Astronaut[edit]

Duque underwent training in both Russia and the United States. His first spaceflight was as a mission specialist aboard space shuttle mission STS-95, during which Duque supervised ESA experimental modules. In October 2003, Duque visited the International Space Station on board of a Soyuz TMA Ship for several days during a crew changeover. The scientific program of this visit was called by ESA/Spain Misión Cervantes.

Duque (standing, second from the right) with the crew of the STS-95 in 1998

Duque working on a glovebox while aboard the International Space Station during Expedition 8

University and Business[edit]

In 2003 he started working at UPM School of Aeronautical Engineers as head of operations of the Spanish USOC, also lecturing students on space science and operations.^[1]

In 2006 Duque was named managing director of Deimos Imaging, a private company, that in 2009 put in orbit the first Spanish earth observation satellite (Deimos 1) with uses in agriculture, forestry wildfire detection and control. In 2011 he was named CEO of the Company.

Return to the ESA[edit]

In October 2011 Duque returned to his position in the European Space Agency, retaking his position as an astronaut. Until 2015 he was the leader of the Flight Operations Office, with responsibility for ESA operations in the ISS. After that he assumed the responsibility of the review of future ESA manned flights, within the ESA's astronaut corps.

Minister[edit]

Duque photographed in 2018 in La Moncloa with his minister portfolio.

After the success of the motion of no confidence against the government of Mariano Rajoy in June 2018, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez named Pedro Duque Minister of Science, Innovation and Universities.^[2]

In April 2019, Duque announced that his ministry was going to increase Spain's contribution to the European Space Agency by €701 million between 2020 and 2026 to ensure a proper contribution regarding the Spanish economy size.^[3]

As the rest of the Sánchez cabinet, Duque ran for the April 2019 general election, being elected MP for Alicante.^[4]

Honors and Decorations[edit]

Order Of Friendship of the Russian Federation (1995)
Grand Cross of Aeronautical Merit (1999)
Prince of Asturias Award of International Cooperation (1999)
Doctor Honoris Causa of the Technical University of Valencia (2005)
Medal "For Merit in Space Exploration" of the Russian federation (2011)
Doctor Honoris Causa of the European University of Madrid (2013)
Doctor Honoris Causa of the National University of Distance Education (2016)
Doctor Honoris Causa of the University of Almería

References[edit]

^ "El Astronauta e Ingeniero Aeronáutico Pedro Duque "ficha" por su Escuela". Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros Aeronaúticos (in Spanish). Universidad Politécnica de Madrid. 21 October 2004. Archived from the original on 8 December 2004. Retrieved 28 April 2005.
^ "Astronaut Pedro Duque appointed to Spain's new Cabinet". 6 June 2018.
^ Domínguez, Nuño (2019-04-26). "España aumenta 700 millones su contribución a la exploración del espacio". El País (in Spanish). ISSN 1134-6582. Retrieved 2019-06-01.
^ "Carcedo y Duque recogen su acta de diputados en el Congreso". Consalud (in Spanish). Retrieved 2019-06-01.

External links[edit]

[1] "El Astronauta e Ingeniero Aeronáutico Pedro Duque "ficha" por su Escuela". Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros Aeronaúticos (in Spanish). Universidad Politécnica de Madrid. 21 October 2004. Archived from the original on 8 December 2004. Retrieved 28 April 2005.

[2] "Astronaut Pedro Duque appointed to Spain's new Cabinet". 6 June 2018.

[3] Domínguez, Nuño (2019-04-26). "España aumenta 700 millones su contribución a la exploración del espacio". El País (in Spanish). ISSN 1134-6582. Retrieved 2019-06-01.

[4] "Carcedo y Duque recogen su acta de diputados en el Congreso". Consalud (in Spanish). Retrieved 2019-06-01.

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