This poster commemorates the 5th Planetary Congress of the Association of Space Explorers. The Congress took place November 11-15, 1989 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Bearing the authentic and original signatures of fifty-one of the participating astronauts from eleven nations, it is part of a series of limited Collector's Edition posters that have been produced and signed at each ASE Congress since the Association was founded in 1985. One hundred and forty-seven posters were signed at the 5th Congress.

The poster has two headings, the main heading in Arabic at the top, with the English and Russian displayed at the bottom. Around the periphery are printed translations of "Association of Space Explorers" in the native languages of all individuals who have flown in space. Clockwise, from upper left with Arabic at the top, they include Romanian, Dutch, Czech, German, Arabic, Italian, Hungarian, Vietnamese, Hindi, Bulgarian, Mongolian, French and Polish. The background is taken from NASA archive photo # 83 HC 213 which has been used for each set of posters in the series.

The central image of the poster reflects the Congress theme "Space for Earth" and was painted by Saudi artist Prince Khaled Al-Faisal al-Saud, Governor of Asir Province. The painting depicts the traditional Arab bedouin in the natural environment he inhabits - the island Earth in the vastness of space - relying on his camel, his Saluki hunting dog and the date palm and contemplating the heavens as a source of navigation, inspiration and spiritual guidance. The image represents the natural unity that binds humanity to its surroundings.

Signature Key

Saudi Arabia

Sultan ibn Salman al-Saud (Host)

United States

Loren Acton, Buzz Aldrin, Joseph Allen, *John-David Bartoe, Michael Collins, Walter Cunningham, John Fabian, Karl Henize, Don Lind, Jon McBride, Bruce McCandless II, Robert Overmyer, Don Peterson, Stuart Roosa, Rusty Schweickart, James Van Hoften, Charles Walker, Taylor Wang

USSR

Vladimir Aksyonov, Alexander Alexandrov, Oleg Atkov, Yuri Glazkov, Victor Gorbatko, Georgi Grechko, Sergei Krikalev, Alexander Laveikhin, Alexei Leonov, Oleg Makarov, Yuri Malyshev, Musa Manarov, Nikolai Rukavishnikov, Valeri Ryumin, Victor Savinykh, Vladimir Shatalov, Vladimir Solovyov, Vladimir Titov, Igor Volk, Alexander Volkov

International

Alexander Alexandrov (Bulgaria), Patrick Baudry (France), Bertalan Farkas (Hungary), Reinhard Furrer (FRG), Miroslaw Hermaszewski (Poland), Georgi Ivanov (Bulgaria), Sigmund Jaehn (GDR), Ulf Merbold (FRG), Ernst Messerschmid (FRG), Wubbo Ockels (Netherlands), Dorin Prunariu (Romania), Rakesh Sharma (India)

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