International Space Year

[4] However, the colonial nations of the Americas and Spain blocked the request as they had plans to celebrate the Quincentenary of Columbus' voyage.

[5] The United States featured a poster celebrating 1992 as the International Space Year in which, as described by the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum: "Movie character 'ET' embraces earth; on horizon shows progression of exploring vehicles from [C]olumbus' ships to present.

"[6] It celebrates Columbus' voyage, indicating the Columbian legacy was viewed as an inspiration for the future of space travel.

Space Flight Europe-America 500 consisted of a Proton rocket carrying various items symbolizing peace, which orbited the Earth for a few days.

[14] Accordionist and singer-songwriter John Linnell jokingly speculated that an album named Apollo 18 would be a cheaper alternative to actually manning a flight to the Moon as part of the International Space Year, although the album title was selected prior to the band's involvement with ISY.

[15] In support of the celebration, the album's back cover artwork and some promotional materials feature the International Space Year logo.