Israel in shock over loss of shuttle carrying astronaut Ramon

By Randall Hackley
Bloomberg News

JERUSALEM — Israel was in mourning after the loss of the space shuttle Columbia carrying Israel's first astronaut, the decorated war veteran Air Force Colonel Ilan Ramon.

Israeli Air Force Col. Ilan Ramon

Israeli television networks were showing live coverage of the return of the space shuttle when Columbia broke up high over Texas, leaving Ramon, 48, and the other six American crew members presumed dead.

"The state of Israel and its citizens are as one at this difficult time," Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said in a statement.

Ramon was one of Israel's most popular figures, a former fighter pilot who bombed Iraq's Osirak nuclear reactor in 1981, the newspaper Ha'aretz reported. Ramon was assigned to measure dust particles in the atmosphere, one of 80 planned experiments for NASA, the European Space Agency and customers including drug and chemical companies.

Ramon was the son of a Holocaust survivor and carried aboard the shuttle a picture that a Holocaust victim drew of Earth, according to the Israeli Space Agency.

While Ramon's role in the mission heightened security awareness at the Kennedy Space Center, NASA security chief David Saleeba said the agency received no threat against the mission. A White House spokesman told Agence France-Presse that U.S. government officials had been in touch with Israeli officials.

His father was watching

In Israel, Sharon's office issued a statement saying "the government and people of Israel are praying together with the peoples of the world for the safety of the astronauts on the shuttle Columbia."

As a fighter pilot for the Israeli air force, Ramon took part in several missions against Arab targets, first as a cadet during the 1973 Middle East War and again against the Iraqi nuclear reactor that Israel said was intended to develop nuclear weapons.

He was born June 20, 1954, in Tel Aviv. According to NASA, he and his wife Rona had four children and enjoyed skiing and squash. His parents reside in Beer Sheva, Israel. Television networks reported his father was watching TV of the re-entry at the time of the accident.

The astronauts' families had been waiting at Kennedy Space Center for the shuttle's landing, the Associated Press reported.

Fighter pilot

In 1974, Ramon graduated as a fighter pilot from the Israel Air Force Flight School. Ramon received a B.S. degree in electronics and computer engineering from the University of Tel Aviv in 1987 and special awards for his roles in the Yom Kippur War and Operation Peace for Galilee.

Sharon took time out from parliamentary elections last month to talk via video linkup to Ramon. It was broadcast live on both Israeli television channels and radio.

On it, Ramon was quoted as saying he was impressed with how beautiful the Earth looked from above.

"From space, Israel looks like it does on a map — small but charming," Ramon was quoted as saying by National Public Radio. "I think we have a great people in Israel."

Sharon replied: "Like you, I believe we are a special nation that has faced many difficulties and can achieve great things. You are one of our best achievements."