Netherlands salutes Dutch astronaut André Kuipers

It is in a field near Amsterdam Schiphol Airport and so big it can be seen from space: a work of art created especially for Dutch astronaut André Kuipers aboard the International Space Station.

The work, called Nederland groet André (The Netherlands Greets André), consists of tens of thousands of portraits of Dutch citizens which have been printed on a 2,000-kilogram canvas that has been fixed to the ground by 1,100 tent pegs.

The work has been sponsored by Mobile Samsung. The telecommunications giant says it wants to thank Kuipers for the photographs, tweets and videocasts he sent back to Earth.

Nederland groet André was designed by Spanish street artist Notasso who works with smartphones. More than 36,000 Dutch people submitted their pictures from their Facebook profiles.

The work has the same surface area as one-and-a-half football fields - so big that André Kuipers can see it from space. Passengers taking off from or landing at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport can also see the enormous work of art in a field near the town of Nieuw Vennep.

Kuipers left for a six-month stay aboard the ISS on 21 December 2011 which means that, by the time he gets back, he will have spent more time in space than any other Dutch person.

Nederland groet André will remain in its field until André Kuipers returns to Earth on 1 July.

© Radio Netherlands Worldwide