Ilan Ramon (
June 20 1954 -
February 1 2003;
אילן רמון) was a fighter pilot in the
Israeli Air Force, and later the first
Israeli astronaut. Ramon was the
space shuttle payload specialist of
STS-107, the fatal mission of
Columbia, where he and six other crew members were killed in a re-entry accident over Southern Texas. Ramon is a recipient of the
Congressional Space Medal of Honor.
Personal life
Ramon was born in
Ramat Gan,
Israel and grew up in
Beersheba. His mother and grandmother are survivors of
Auschwitz concentration camp.
Although a secular Jew, Ramon sought to follow Jewish observances while in orbit. In an interview he said, "I feel I am representing all Jews and all Israelis". He was the first spaceflight participant to request kosher food.
He also gathered rabbinic opinions from the local Chabad-Lubavitch representative Rabbi Zvi Konikov, about observing the Jewish Sabbath (Shabbat) while in space, since the period between sunrises in orbit is approximately 90 minutes. This later became famous by the words "Jerusalem we have a problem" (said in Rabbi Konikov's speech at the Kennedy Space Center Memorial for Columbia on February 7, 2003).
Aboard STS-107, Ramon carried a pencil sketch, "Moon Landscape", drawn by 14-year-old Petr Ginz, who died in Auschwitz. Ramon also took with him a microfiche copy of the Torah (from the Holocaust) given to him by Israeli president Moshe Katsav. Ramon asked the 1939 Club, a Holocaust survivor organization in Los Angeles, for a symbol of the Holocaust to take into outer space with him. A barbed wire Mezuzah by San Francisco Artist Aimee Golant was selected. Ramon also took with him a dollar of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson.
Ramon and the rest of the Columbia crew died over Texas in the Southern United States during entry into Earth's atmosphere, 16 minutes prior to scheduled landing.
Ramon is survived by his wife Rona and their four children.
Miracle diary
Thirty-seven pages from the diary he was keeping while in orbit miraculously survived the crash and were returned to his widow; she has shared an excerpt with the Israeli public in a display at
Jerusalem's
Israel Museum. Rona brought it to Israel Museum
forensic experts.
Curator Yigal Zalmona said the
diary was partially restored in 1 year, and needed 4 more, for police scientists to decipher 80% of the text. Only 2 pages were displayed, 1 containing Ramon's notes, and the other is a copy of the
Kiddush prayer. Yigal Zalmona stated: "The diary survived extreme heat in the explosion, extreme atmospheric cold, and then "was attacked by microorganisms and insects. It's almost a miracle that it survived — it's incredible. There is 'no rational explanation' for how it was recovered when most of the shuttle was not, he said. Ramon wrote on the last day of the journal:
"Today was the first day that I felt that I am truly living in space. I have become a man who lives and works in space."
Inscribed in black ink and
pencil, it covered just the first 6 days of the 16-day mission. Miraculously, the papers remained white, not charred from the explosion, 37 miles above the Earth.
Even with the shuttle destroyed, Ilan Ramon completed his mission.
Education
Ramon graduated from high school in 1972. In 1987, he graduated with a B.Sc. in electronics and computer engineering from
Tel-Aviv University, Israel.
Air Force career
Ramon was a
Colonel (
Aluf Mishne) and
fighter pilot in the
Israeli Air Force, with thousands of hours
flying experience. In 1980, he was in the first group of Israeli pilots to fly the newly purchased
F-16s. In 1981, he took part in the bombing of
Iraq's unfinished
Osiraq nuclear reactor (
Operation Opera); and was the youngest pilot in the bombing team.
In 1974, Ramon graduated as a fighter pilot from the Israel Air Force (IAF) Flight School. From 1974–1976 he participated in A-4 Basic Training and Operations. 1976–1980 was spent in Mirage III-C training and operations. In 1980, as one of the IAF’s establishment team of the first F-16 Squadron in Israel, he attended the F-16 Training Course at Hill Air Force Base, Utah. From 1981–1983, he served as the Deputy Squadron Commander B, F-16 Squadron. After attending the University of Tel Aviv, he served as Deputy Squadron Commander A, F-4 Phantom Squadron (1988–1990). During 1990, he attended the Squadron Commanders Course. From 1990–1992, he served as Squadron Commander, F-16 Squadron. From 1992–1994, he was Head of the Aircraft Branch in the Operations Requirement Department. In 1994, he was promoted to the rank of Colonel and assigned as Head of the Department of Operational Requirement for Weapon Development and Acquisition. He stayed at this post until 1998.
Colonel Ramon accumulated over 3,000 flight hours on the A-4, Mirage III-C, and F-4, and over 1,000 flight hours on the F-16.
NASA experience
NASA on-ground trainings
In 1997, Colonel Ramon was selected as a
Payload Specialist. He was designated to train as prime for a space shuttle mission with a payload that included a
multispectral camera for recording desert
aerosol (dust). In July 1998, he reported for training at the
Johnson Space Center,
Houston, where he trained until 2003. He flew aboard
STS-107, logging 15 days, 22 hours and 20 minutes in space.
Space flight experience
STS-107
Columbia (
January 16–
February 1,
2003). The 16-day flight was a dedicated science and research mission. Working 24 hours a day, in two alternating shifts, the crew successfully conducted approximately 80 experiments. The STS-107 mission ended abruptly when Space Shuttle
Columbia was destroyed and its crew perished during re-entry, 16 minutes before scheduled landing.
Awards and honors
- Military decorations:
- Posthumously awarded:
Commemoration
- Asteroid 51828 Ilanramon
- Ramon Hill, in Columbia Hills, Mars
- Ramon Hall, in the Columbia Village apartments, Florida Institute of Technology
- Ilan Ramon youth physics center, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beersheba, Israel
- Ramon Control Tower, Ben-Gurion Airport, Israel
- Ilan Ramon Elementary School, Netanya, Israel
- Ilan Ramon Boulevard, Vaughan, Ontario
- Ramon Park, Givat Shmuel, Israel
- Ilan Ramon Park, space-themed playground in Beersheba, Israel
- Ilan Ramon AZA #380 in Boulder, CO & Ilan Ramon BBYO #5378 in Oviedo, FL
References
See also
External links
