Ilan Ramon

Ramon's father was one of the founders of Israel, fighting in the War for Independence. His mother and grandmother were World War II Holocaust survivors from the concentration camp at Auschwitz, Ilan's wife Rona was originally from Turkey and emigrated to Israel.

Ramon recognized that he was representing Jews around the world. One way Ramon could recognize his religion would be to eat Kosher food in space. NASA contacted the "My Own Meals" company which produces pre-cooked Kosher meals.

Israel decided its first astronaut should be a military pilot. The candidates had to have a technical degree and experience working with scientists. The Israeli Air Force selected Ilan Ramon and Itzhak Mayo as his backup. But it became evident that the Israeli crewmember would have to be a fully functional crewmember and not just an add-on passenger operating just one experiment. It wasn't practical to give Mayo the same amount of training so the decision was made for him to return to the Israeli Air Force and for Ramon to stay with NASA and get all of the training he would need to be a science crewmember for many of the STS-107 experiments.

During Ilan Ramon's four years training in the United States he met with many Jewish groups, including The "1939" Club, a group of Holocaust survivors.

Astronauts are permitted to carry a small number of personal and official items to commemorate their spaceflight. One of Ramon's items was from the Yad Vashem, Israel's Holocaust museum. Petr Ginz was a Czech Jewish kid who was forced into a concentration camp during World War II. He made a drawing of what he imagined the Earth would look like from the moon. Ginz was killed by the Nazis but his drawing survived the war. Ramon was given a copy of the priceless piece of Jewish history to carry on Columbia.

• Ilan Ramon answers author Philip Chien's question about former Israeli president Ezer Weisman.
• Author Philip Chien asked Ilan Ramon about his thoughts on September 11th.
• Ilan Ramon's official NASA bio.

Ilan Ramon's parents - a Holocaust survivor and a founder of Israel	Young Ilan. With that smile he's certainly going to break some hearts.	Ilan Ramon was one of the first Israeli pilots trained to fly the U.S. F-16	Ilan in a fighter cockpit	Ilan in a fighter cockpit
The Israeli pilots who bombed an Iraqi nuclear reactor. Ilan's at the upper left.	Backup Israeli astronaut Itzhak Mayo	Ilan Ramon and Itzhak Mayo in NASA's KC-135 weightless training aircraft	The Israeli MEIDEX team at the Goddard Spaceflight Center	Ilan Ramon's family at a party before launch
Ilan Ramon talks to The "1939" Club	Ilan Ramon with Sheila Lefkowitz and William Elperin	Ilan Ramon meets the members of The "1939" Club	Ilan Ramon with Holocaust survivors Toni Green, Selma Konitz, Lou Konitz, and Mania Feldman	Ilan Ramon is hoisted in the air during the Horah dance
Holocaust victim Petr Ginz	Petr Ginz's 'Moon Landscape'	A special patch for Ilan Ramon's flight	Ilan Ramon's official NASA portrait	A typical Kosher space meal

Ilan with Holocaust survivors photos courtesy of The "1939" Club.
Other photos from the author's collection and NASA.

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