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.

 

 

The Leonov Medallion is a solid bronze casting designed, carved and poured by cosmonaut Alexei Arkhipovich Leonov, Major General, twice Hero of the Soviet Union, and first human to walk in space. The metal used in the medallion was originally reclaimed from a large memorial plaque to Leonid Brezhnev that at one time decorated the Cosmonaut Training Center at Star City, Russia. The Leonov Medallion is awarded on behalf of the Association of Space Explorers to honor notables who have contributed greatly to the Association and its aims; it was first awarded at the VI Congress in 1990. The Medallions are also awarded to Congress hosts and ASE members who have provided exemplary service to the Association.

 

 

 

Congress	Year	Crystal Helmet	Leonov Medallion
I	1985	Jacques Cousteau	Not awarded
II	1986	Oleg Gazenko, Gerard O'Neill	Not awarded
III	1987	Thomas Paine	Not awarded
IV	1988	Boris Raushenbach	Not awarded
V	1989	Yash Pal	Not awarded
VI	1990	H.C. van den Hulst	Wubbo Ockels
VII	1991	Hans Dietrich Genscher	Sigmund Jaehn, Ernst Messerschmid
VIII	1992	Isaac Asimov	John-David Bartoe, Jon McBride
IX	1993	Hermann Bondi	Franz Viehbock
X	1994	Yuri Gagarin (posthumous)	Thor Heyerdahl, Yuri Koptev, John Fabian, Vladimir Kovolyonok
XI	1995	Stanislaw Lem	Lech Walensa, Pope John Paul II, Miroslaw Hermaszewski
XII	1996	Nicolas Mattescu Matte	Steve MacLean
XIII	1997	José María Figueres	Rodrigo Gamez, Guy de Teramond, Franklin Chang-Díaz
XIV	1998	Edith Cresson	Dirk Frimout, Kajsa Dahlstrom
XV	1999	Virgiliu Constantinescu	Emil Constantinescu, Dumitru Prumariu
XVI	2000	The Prince of Asturias	Michael Lopez-Alegria, Pedro Duque
XVII	2001	Nursultan Nazarbayev	Sultan Sultangazin, Toktar Aubakirov
XVIII	2003	Lorna Onizuka	Jiro Kondo, Tadao Ulmesao, Mamoru Mohri
XIX	2005	Apollo-Soyuz Flight Crew	Gennadi Strekalov, Charlie Walker
XX	2007	Kenneth Pounds	Colin McInnes, Alex Blackwood, Jake Garn, Sergei Avdeev
XXI	2008	William E. Boeing, Jr.	Kathy Fletcher, Greg Nickels, Bonnie Dunbar
XXII	2009	Boris Valnicek	Slavek Hrzal, Vladimir Remek
XXIII	2010	Tun Mahatir Mohammad	Mazlan Othman, Chris Hadfield, Sheikh Muszaphar
XXIV	2011	Boris Chertok	Anatoli Grigoriev
XXV	2012	TBA	TBA

ASE Distinguished Members

The ASE Distinguished Member (DM) recognizes ASE members who through their longstanding personal and professional efforts have significantly contributed to the mission, goals and objectives of the Association of Space Explorers. Nominees are accepted on an ongoing basis and are selected by the international executive committee. Two is the maximum number of awards presented each year. The first DM was awarded at the XXII Planetary Congress in 2009. Distinguished Members are presented with a sterling silver and 14 ct gold ASE lapel pin, custom designed and produced only for the conferees.

Conferees	Congress	Year
Alexei Leonov, Rusty Schweickart	XXII	2009
John Fabian	XXIII	2010

Best Technical Presentation

In 2010, the ASE introduced a new award recognizing the best technical presentation at an ASE Planetary Congress. The ceramic EVA glove presented to awardees is designed and produced by ASE member Yuri Usachev.

	Awardees	Congress	Year
	Soichi Noguchi	XXIII	2010
	Cady Coleman	XXIV	2011