Ilan Ramon - Portrait of an Israeli Hero

Ilan Ramon, born June 20,1954, in Tel Aviv was married to Rona, and the two have four children. Ramon graduated from high school in 1972 and began his military service and later attended flight-training school. Long before he received his college degree at 33, he distinguished himself in combat. He participated in the Yom Kippur War in 1973 and in 1974, Ramon graduated as a fighter pilot from IAF Flight School. From 1974-1976 he participated in A-4 Basic Training and Operations and from 1976-1980 he was in Mirage III-C training and operations programs.

In 1980, as part of IAF efforts to establish the first F-16 squadron in Israel, Ramon attended the F-16 Training Course at Hill Air Force Base, Utah and served served as the Deputy Squadron Commander B, F-16 Squadron. In 1981, Ramon was one of eight Israeli F-16 pilots who obliterated the French-built Osiraq reactor near Baghdad in a lightning raid that shocked the world. The next year he flew missions over Lebanon as part of Operation Peace for Galilee. From 1983-1987, he attended Tel Aviv University where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in electronics and computer engineering. From 1988-1990, he was Deputy Squadron Commander A, F-4 Phantom Squadron and during 1990, he attended the Squadron Commanders Course. From 1990-1992, he served as Squadron Commander, F-16 Squadron and had recorded a total of 1,000 flight hours in his F-16 by 1992. He accumulated more than 3,000 flight hours on the A-4, Mirage III-C, and F-4.

Ramon received the rank of colonel in 1994 and took over control of the air force's weapon development and acquisition department. In 1997, he was selected to be Israel's first astronaut, and began training at NASA a year later. He was promised a launch as early as 1999, but for several reasons, his flight - and the flight of an atmospheric dust-measuring experiment sponsored by Israel - was delayed. For Columbia Space Shuttle Mission STS-107, Ramon, as a member of the Red Team, was the prime crewmember for the Mediterranean Israeli Dust Experiment (MEIDEX), a multispectral camera that measured small dust particles (dust aerosols) in the atmosphere over the Mediterranean and the Saharan coast of the Atlantic. He worked with the following experiments: European Space Agency Advanced Respiratory Monitoring System (ARMS); Astroculture (AST-1 and 2); Biological Research in Canister - Development of Gravity Sensitive Plant Cells in Microgravity (BRIC); Combustion Module (CM-2), which included the Laminar Soot Processes (LSP), Water Mist Fire Suppression (MIST) and Structures of Flame Balls at Low Lewis-number (SOFBALL) experiments; the Microbial Physiology Flight Experiments Team (MPFE) experiments, which included the Effects of Microgravity on Microbial Physiology and Spaceflight Effects on Fungal Growth, Metabolism and Sensitivity to Anti-fungal Drugs; the Physiology and Biochemistry Team (PhAB4) suite of experiments, which included Calcium Kinetics, Latent Virus Shedding, Protein Turnover and Renal Stone Risk; and Space Technology and Research Students Bootes (STARS Bootes).

The son of an Auschwitz death camp survivor, Ramon planned a tribute to those who endured the Holocaust during his space flight - he carried up a small pencil drawing titled "Moon Landscape" by Peter Ginz, a 14-year-old Jewish boy who was killed at Auschwitz. He also packed a credit-card sized microfiche of the Bible given to him by President Moshe Katsav and some mezuzot - cases containing excerpts from the Bible that are affixed to the door in Jewish houses.
The Israel Defense Forces created a special e-mail address where the public may express its condolences to the Ramon family and to the people of the State of Israel on the loss of Col. Ilan Ramon in the Columbia space shuttle tragedy.
The e-mail address is ilanfamily@mail.idf.il.

Rona Ramon: Ilan Will Stay an Angel

Talking to Israeli reporters on Sunday, Rona Ramon, the widow of Ilan Ramon, said that her husband was at his peak when he died, YEDIOT AHARONOT reported:
"He was happy in space, with the people he loved, in the place he loved. Sixteen days he floated in a dream. He didn't only dream - he made his dream come true. Ilan was the best of the best, and it is not a coincidence that he was chosen to become the first Israeli astronaut."
"He was a happy and an optimistic person. When he left for space, he left us this wonderful feeling that we are also part of this amazing thing. He had to write a will but at the end didn't because he thought it was unnecessary. He always had a smile and he wanted us to keep on smiling. We are not falling apart. We are strong for Ilan's sake. We will keep his spiritual will alive and he would want us to be happy, calm and smiling."

Ramon, wearing a shirt with the NASA symbol and accompanied by her sister from Israel, said that she was not afraid during the days her husband was in space:
"I knew that if the launching went well, there would be nothing to worry about because usually the malfunctions are during the launch and not during the landing. The only thing that tears me apart now is that during the liftoff, when we were all in high spirits, my youngest daughter, Noa, looked at the sky and said, 'I lost my daddy.' She felt what we didn't allow ourselves to think about, as if she knew this was the last time."
"We stood and waited at the end of runway for the landing. It was a beautiful day and the clock was ticking. When it got down to 10 seconds, we started a countdown, just like in the liftoff, to hear the sonic booms. But they didn't come. We started to worry, and then they took us to the side and told us that they didn't know what had happened, but we already knew. I didn't even have to tell the kids, they knew immediately".

Ramon explained that when they returned to their home there were several e-mails from Ilan awaiting them:
"Ilan sent the e-mails in the last minutes before the landing. One of them was a thank-you letter to Shimon Peres for helping him fulfill his dream of becoming an astronaut. Peres and President Clinton started the project of sending an Israeli to space. The rests were personal letters to the family. He wanted us to read them together."
"We and the families of the other astronauts are a one big supporting family. We are bound in a magnificent way. The other crewmembers were close friends of Ilan's. The only thing that gives me any comfort is that they had such a good time [in space] and loved one another. They were simply a group of angels and that's how they will stay."
"I know that Ilan would want the space program to continue and I also support it. It's a great mission for humanity and despite the tragedy it should go on."

Family members and close friends, including Ilan's father and brother, arrived on Sunday in Houston to be with Rona and her four children. A team headed by Israel's Ambassador to the U.S. Danny Ayalon is also in Houston to help and give support to the family. The family, as well as official Israeli representatives, is slated to attend NASA's official memorial service for the seven astronauts killed aboard the Columbia on Tuesday.