Astronaut who inspired kids to be spacemen becomes minister

Only the second Spaniard to travel to space and the first Spaniard on the moon, Pedro Duque has now become the first astronaut with a role in national government.

Duque is already a household name in Spain and inspired many a school child 15 or 20 years ago to respond with 'spaceman' or 'spacewoman' when asked what they wanted to be when they grew up.

He was not the first Spaniard in space – this honour went to Miguel López-Alegría – but is so far the most remembered.

The new science minister first went up into space on the trans-orbital ship Discovery on October 29, 1998, as engineer.

During his nine-day mission, he oversaw the European Space Agency (ESA) experimental module.

Fast forward five years and, once again in October, Duque once again left the earth's atmosphere on the shuttle Soyuz, visiting the International Space Station and working as engineer during his 10-day Mission Cervantes.

Few TV viewers in Spain will forget the early-morning image of Pedro Duque smiling from ear to ear as he landed back on earth on October 28, 2003 in his space suit, or of the scenes of him during the mission floating in zero gravity inside the craft.

The 1999 Prince of Asturias Prize winner left the ESA for two years to work at Madrid Polytechnic as director of operations for the USOC, a role he remained in until October 2006.

Duque returned to the ESA in 2011 and his job as an astronaut, leading up the future projects review team.

He will now take a career break from this role to act as minister of science, which also means putting off his planned move to Malta where his wife, Consuelo Femenía, has just been named Spanish ambassador for the Mediterranean island.

Curiously, he is now leading the government department which funded the Mission Cervantes that sent him to space nearly 15 years ago.