Ilan Ramon אילן רמון
ISA astronaut
Nationality	Israeli
Born	June 20, 1954 Ramat Gan, Israel
Died	February 1, 2003(2003-02-01) (aged 48) Palestine, Texas [1]
Previous occupation	Fighter pilot
Rank	Colonel, Israeli Air Force
Time in space	15d 22h 20m
Selection	1996 NASA Group
Missions	STS-107
Mission insignia

Ilan Ramon (June 20, 1954 – February 1, 2003; Hebrew: אילן רמון‎, born Ilan Wolferman)^[2] 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, in which he and six other crew members were killed in the re-entry accident. Ramon is the only foreign recipient of the United States Congressional Space Medal of Honor.

Personal life[link]

Ramon was born in Ramat Gan, Israel, and grew up in Beersheba. His mother and grandmother were survivors of the Auschwitz concentration camp.^[3] His first name, Ilan, means "tree" in Hebrew.^[4] Ilan changed his last name from Wolferman when he joined the IAF just as many other Israeli aviators.

Education[link]

Ramon graduated from high school in 1972. In 1987, he graduated with a B.Sc. degree in electronics and computer engineering from Tel Aviv University.^[5]

Air Force career[link]

Nose of F-16A flown by Ilan Ramon in Operation Opera, showing the triangular emblem of the attack on Osirak, and a Syrian Air Force roundel 'killmark'.

Ilan Ramon was a Colonel (Aluf Mishne) and fighter pilot in the Israeli Air Force, with thousands of hours flying experience. In 1974, he graduated as a fighter pilot from the Israel Air Force (IAF) Flight School. From 1974–76 he participated in A-4 Basic Training and Operations. 1976–80 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 1981–83, he served as the Deputy Squadron Commander B, F-16 Squadron.^[5]

In 1981 he was the youngest pilot taking part in Operation Opera, Israel's strike against Iraq's unfinished Osiraq nuclear reactor. The facility was destroyed, killing ten Iraqi soldiers and one French researcher.^[6][7]

After attending the Tel Aviv University, he served as Deputy Squadron Commander A, 119 Squadron, flying the F-4 Phantom (1988–90). During 1990, he attended the Squadron Commanders Course and between 1990 and 1992, commanded 117 Squadron, flying the F-16. From 1992–94, 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. 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.^[8]

NASA experience[link]

Payload specialist Ilan Ramon

NASA on-ground trainings[link]

In 1997, 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, Texas, where he trained until 2003. He flew aboard STS-107, logging 15 days, 22 hours and 20 minutes in space.

Space flight[link]

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, crew successfully conducted approximately 80 experiments.

Although considered a secular Jew, Ramon reportedly 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 reportedly sought advice from a Chabad Lubavitch rabbi, Zvi Konikov, about how to observe the Jewish Sabbath in space, as the period between sunrises in orbit is approximately 90 minutes. This was referenced by the words "Jerusalem we have a problem" in Rabbi Konikov's speech at the Kennedy Space Center Memorial for Columbia on February 7, 2003.^[9]

The STS-107 mission ended abruptly when Space Shuttle Columbia was destroyed and its crew perished during re-entry, 16 minutes before scheduled landing.

Aboard STS-107, Ramon carried a pencil sketch, "Moon Landscape", drawn by 16-year-old Petr Ginz, who died in Auschwitz. Ramon also took with him a microfiche copy of the Torah given to him by Israeli president Moshe Katsav and a miniature Torah scroll (from the Holocaust) that was given him by Prof. Yehoyachin Yosef, a Bergen Belsen survivor.^[10] 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 the San Francisco artist Aimee Golant was selected. Ramon also took with him a dollar of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson.^[11] Ramon and the rest of the Columbia crew died over East Texas in the Southern United States during entry into Earth's atmosphere, 16 minutes prior to scheduled landing. ^[5]

"Miracle" diary[link]

37 pages from the diary he was keeping while in orbit survived the crash and were returned to his widow, Rona, who has shared an excerpt with the Israeli public in a display at Jerusalem's Israel Museum.^[12] Rona Ramon brought it to Israel Museum forensic experts. Only two pages were displayed, one containing Ramon's notes, and the other is a copy of the Kiddush prayer.^[12] Curator Yigal Zalmona^[13] said the diary was partially restored in one year, and needed four more, for police scientists to decipher 80% of the text. 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."^[12] Ramon wrote on the last day of the journal:

Inscribed in black ink and pencil, it covered just the first six days of the 16-day mission. The papers remained white even though, exposed at high speed 37 miles (60 km) above the Earth, they should have super-heated and burned.^[14] Other fragile items withstood the disaster as well, some even in a better shape, like a Caenorhabditis elegans worm culture,^[15][16][17] the only survivors of the accident are a damaged hard disk drive.^[18][19] This is a common occurrence in the debris trail of air disasters, where certain parts or objects in the aircraft are blown out of the vehicle and fall freely; when the Columbia disintegrated, she was already an aircraft (if exceptionally high and fast still) rather than a spacecraft.

Family[link]

Ramon was survived by his wife Rona and their four children, who were in Florida at the time of the accident. His eldest son, Captain Asaf Ramon, died on September 13, 2009, aged 21, during a routine training flight while piloting his F-16A, 3 months after graduating from the IAF flight school as the top cadet in his class.^[20][21]

Awards and honors[link]

• Military decorations:
  • Yom Kippur War (1973)
  • Operation Peace of the Galilee (1982)
  • F-16 1,000 Flight Hours (1992).
• Posthumously awarded:
  • NASA Space Flight Medal
  • Congressional Space Medal of Honor (Ramon is the only non-U.S. citizen recipient to date) ^[22]
  • Chief Of Staff Medal of Appreciation

In 2005, he was voted the 5th-greatest Israeli of all time, in a poll by the Israeli news website Ynet to determine whom the general public considered the 200 Greatest Israelis.^[23]

Namesakes (in Israel unless specified otherwise)[link]

Ilan Ramon's grave in Nahalal

• Timna Airport to be named in honor of Ilan and Assaf Ramon^[24]
• Asteroid 51828 Ilanramon
• Ramon Hill, in Columbia Hills, Mars
• Ramon Hall, in the Columbia Village apartments, Florida Institute of Technology^[25]
• Ilan Ramon Youth Physics Center, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beersheba
• Ramon Control Tower, Ben-Gurion Airport
• Ilan Ramon Elementary School, Jerusalem
• Ilan Ramon Elementary School, Netanya
• Ramon Elementary School, Modi'in
• Ramon High school, Hod Hasharon
• Ilan Ramon Junior High, Kokhav Ya'ir^[26]
• Ilan Ramon Emergency Center, Kaplan Hospital, Rehovot
• Ilan Ramon Boulevard^[27][28] Vaughan, Ontario (Canada)
• Ramon Park, Givat Shmuel
• Ilan Ramon Park, space-themed playground, Beersheba
• Ilan Ramon AZA #380, Boulder, Colorado
• Ilan Ramon BBYO #5378, Oviedo, Florida
• Ramon AZA #195 (Named after Ilan and Asaf Ramon, his son) Sunnyvale, California
• Ilan Ramon Crescent, Cote St. Luc, Montreal, Quebec (Canada)
• Ilan Ramon Day School, Agoura, California (USA)

See also[link]

• Space Shuttle Columbia disaster
• Columbia: The Tragic Loss, a documentary that focuses on Ilan Ramon

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official biography at NASA
• Photo of Ilan Ramon with Chabad Rabbi Zvi Konikov
• Ilan Ramon STS-107 Crew Memorial
• A collection of articles about Ilan Ramon
• Ilan Ramon Memorial pages in the Israel Science and Technology Directory
• Spacefacts biography of Ilan Ramon
• Excerpts from Ilan Ramon's diary
• Ilan Ramon at Find a Grave
• Ilan Ramon – Obituary and public tribute

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Ilan Ramon

v t e STS-107 Main articles Space Shuttle Columbia Space Shuttle Columbia disaster Space Shuttle external tank Space Shuttle thermal protection system Crew Husband (Cmdr) McCool Brown Chawla Anderson Clark Ramon See also Columbia Accident Investigation Board SpaceHab FREESTAR Hitchhiker Extended Duration Orbiter

Buzz Aldrin
Aldrin portrait for the Apollo 11 mission
NASA Astronaut
Nationality	American
Status	Retired
Born	(1930-01-20) January 20, 1930 (age 82) Glen Ridge, New Jersey, U.S.
Other occupation	Fighter pilot
Rank	Colonel, USAF
Time in space	12 days, 1 hour and 52 minutes
Selection	1963 NASA Group
Total EVAs	4
Total EVA time	8 hours 4 minutes
Missions	Gemini 12, Apollo 11
Mission insignia

Buzz Aldrin, Sc.D. (born Edwin Eugene Aldrin, Jr., January 20, 1930) is an American mechanical engineer, retired United States Air Force pilot and astronaut who was the lunar module pilot on Apollo 11, the first manned lunar landing in history. On July 20, 1969, he was the second human being to set foot on the moon, following mission commander Neil Armstrong.

Life and career[link]

Early life[link]

Aldrin was born in Glen Ridge, New Jersey,^[1][2] to Edwin Eugene Aldrin, Sr., a career military man, and his wife Marion (née Moon).^[3][4] He is of Scottish, Swedish,^[5] and German ancestry. After graduating from Montclair High School in 1946,^[6] Aldrin turned down a full scholarship offer from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and went to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. The nickname "Buzz" originated in childhood: the younger of his two elder sisters mispronounced "brother" as "buzzer", and this was shortened to Buzz. Aldrin made it his legal first name in 1988.^[7]

Military career[link]

Aldrin graduated third in his class at West Point in 1951 with a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force and served as a jet fighter pilot during the Korean War. He flew 66 combat missions in F-86 Sabres and shot down two Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 aircraft. The June 8, 1953, issue of LIFE magazine featured gun camera photos taken by Aldrin of one of the Russian pilots ejecting from his damaged aircraft.^[8]

After the war, Aldrin was assigned as an aerial gunnery instructor at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada, and next was an aide to the dean of faculty at the U.S. Air Force Academy, which had recently begun operations in 1955. He flew F-100 Super Sabres as a flight commander at Bitburg Air Base, Germany in the 22nd Fighter Squadron. Aldrin then earned a doctor of science degree in astronautics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His graduate thesis was Line-of-sight guidance techniques for manned orbital rendezvous. On completion of his doctorate, he was assigned to the Gemini Target Office of the Air Force Space Systems Division in Los Angeles before his selection as an astronaut.

NASA career[link]

Aldrin walks on the surface of the moon during Apollo 11.

Aldrin was selected as part of the third group of NASA astronauts selected in October 1963. Because test pilot experience was no longer a requirement, this was the first selection for which he was eligible. After the deaths of the original Gemini 9 prime crew, Elliot See and Charles Bassett, Aldrin and Jim Lovell were promoted to back-up crew for the mission. The main objective of the revised mission (Gemini 9A) was to rendezvous and dock with a target vehicle, but when this failed, Aldrin improvised an effective exercise for the craft to rendezvous with a coordinate in space. He was confirmed as pilot on Gemini 12, the last Gemini mission and the last chance to prove methods for EVA. Aldrin set a record for extra-vehicular activity, demonstrating that astronauts could work outside spacecraft.

Aldrin's lunar footprint in a photo taken by him on July 20, 1969

On July 20, 1969, he became the second astronaut to walk on the moon and the first to spacewalk, keeping his record total EVA time until that was surpassed on Apollo 14. There has been much speculation about Aldrin's desire at the time to be the first astronaut to walk on the moon.^[9] According to different NASA accounts, he had originally been proposed as the first to step onto the moon's surface, but due to the physical positioning of the astronauts inside the compact lunar landing module, it was easier for the commander, Neil Armstrong, to be the first to exit the spacecraft.

Aldrin, a Presbyterian, was the first person to hold a religious ceremony on the moon. After landing on the moon, he radioed Earth: "I'd like to take this opportunity to ask every person listening in, whoever and wherever they may be, to pause for a moment and contemplate the events of the past few hours, and to give thanks in his or her own way." He gave himself Communion on the surface of the moon, but he kept it secret because of a lawsuit brought by atheist activist Madalyn Murray O'Hair over the reading of Genesis on Apollo 8.^[10] Aldrin, a church elder, used a pastor's home Communion kit given to him by Dean Woodruff and recited words used by his pastor at Webster Presbyterian Church.^[11][12] Webster Presbyterian Church, a local congregation in Webster, Texas, (a Houston suburb near the Johnson Space Center) possesses the chalice used for communion on the moon, and commemorates the event annually on the Sunday closest to July 20.^[13] Aldrin, a Freemason, also carried to the moon a special deputization from Grand Master J. Guy Smith, with which to claim Masonic territorial jurisdiction over the moon on behalf of the Grand Lodge of Texas.^[14]

Video from the Apollo 11 mission

Col Aldrin as Commandant of the Air Force Test Pilot School

Retirement[link]

After leaving NASA, Aldrin was assigned as the Commandant of the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base, California. In March 1972, Aldrin retired from active duty after 21 years of service, and returned to the Air Force in a managerial role, but his career was blighted by personal problems. His autobiographies Return To Earth, published in 1973, and Magnificent Desolation, published in June 2009, both provide accounts of his struggles with clinical depression and alcoholism in the years following his NASA career.^[15] His life improved considerably when he recognized and sought treatment for his problems, and with his marriage to Lois Driggs Cannon. Since retiring from NASA, he has continued to promote space exploration, including producing a computer strategy game called Buzz Aldrin's Race Into Space (1993). To further promote space exploration, and to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the first lunar landing, Aldrin teamed up with Snoop Dogg, Quincy Jones, Talib Kweli, and Soulja Boy to create the rap single and video, "Rocket Experience", with proceeds from video and song sales to benefit Aldrin's non-profit foundation, ShareSpace.^[16] In 1995, he made a featured appearance in the Charlton Heston, Mickey Rooney, Deborah Winters film America: A Call to Greatness, directed by Warren Chaney.^[17][18]

He referred to a "Phobos monolith" in a July 22, 2009, interview with C-Span: "We should go boldly where man has not gone before. Fly by the comets, visit asteroids, visit the moon of Mars. There's a monolith there. A very unusual structure on this potato shaped object that goes around Mars once in seven hours. When people find out about that they're going to say 'Who put that there? Who put that there?' The universe put it there. If you choose, God put it there…"^[19]

He voiced in the 2011 Futurama episode "Cold Warriors" as himself judging a high school science fair.

In 2011 Aldrin appeared as himself in the film Transformers: Dark of the Moon.

Aldrin also lent his voice talents to the 2012 blockbuster game Mass Effect 3.

Buzz Aldrin, February 2009

Aldrin Cycler[link]

In 1985, Aldrin proposed the existence of a special spacecraft trajectory now known as the Aldrin cycler.^[20][21] A spacecraft traveling on an Aldrin cycler trajectory would pass near the planets Earth and Mars on a regular (cyclic) basis. The Aldrin cycler is an example of a Mars cycler. He was also instrumental in the idea of training of astronauts underwater in order to better prepare them for the intricate space walks and duties of maintenance while in space.

Criticism of NASA[link]

In December 2003, Aldrin published an opinion piece in The New York Times criticizing NASA's objectives.^[22] In it, he voiced concern about NASA's development of a spacecraft "limited to transporting four astronauts at a time with little or no cargo carrying capability" and declared the goal of sending astronauts back to the moon was "more like reaching for past glory than striving for new triumphs".

Stance on anthropogenic global warming[link]

In 2009, Aldrin said he did not believe humans were causing current climate change: "I think the climate has been changing for billions of years. If it's warming now, it may cool off later. I'm not in favor of just taking short-term isolated situations and depleting our resources to keep our climate just the way it is today. I'm not necessarily of the school that we are causing it all, I think the world is causing it."^[23]

Books[link]

Books co-authored by Aldrin include Return to Earth (1973), Men From Earth (1989), Reaching for the Moon (2008), Look to the Stars (2009) and Magnificent Desolation (2009). He has also co-authored with John Barnes the science fiction novels Encounter with Tiber (1996) and The Return (2000).

Personal life[link]

Aldrin has been married three times: to Joan Archer, with whom he had three children, James, Janice, and Andrew; to Beverly Zile; and to Lois Driggs Cannon. He filed for divorce from Lois on June 15, 2011, in Los Angeles, citing “irreconcilable differences,” according to his attorney, one day after the couple separated.^[24]

His battles against depression and alcoholism have been documented, most recently in Magnificent Desolation.^[25][26] Aldrin is an active supporter of the Republican Party, headlining fundraisers for GOP members of Congress.^[27] In 2007, Aldrin confirmed to Time magazine that he had recently had a face-lift;^[28] he joked that the G-forces he was exposed to in space "caused a sagging jowl that needed some attention."^[28]

Honors[link]

Aldrin next to his window in the Lunar Module after the Apollo 11 moonwalk.

• Military decorations include the Air Force Distinguished Service Medal, the Legion of Merit, two awards of the Distinguished Flying Cross, and three awards of the Air Medal.
• NASA decorations include the NASA Distinguished Service Medal, the NASA Exceptional Service Medal, and two awards of the NASA Space Flight Medal.
• Civilian awards and decorations include the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Robert J. Collier Trophy, the Robert H. Goddard Memorial Trophy, and the Harmon International Trophy.
• The crater Aldrin on the moon near the Apollo 11 landing site and Asteroid 6470 Aldrin^[29] are named in his honor.
• In 1967, Aldrin received an Honorary Doctorate of Science from Gustavus Adolphus College.
• In 2001, President Bush appointed Aldrin to the Commission on the Future of the United States Aerospace Industry.^[30][31]
• Aldrin received the 2003 Humanitarian Award from Variety, the Children's Charity, which, according to the organization, "is given to an individual who has shown unusual understanding, empathy, and devotion to mankind."^[32]
• Aldrin is on the National Space Society's Board of Governors, and has served as the organization's Chairman; an inductee of the Astronaut Hall of Fame; and a member of The Planetary Society, with Aldrin's pre-recorded voice appearing on nearly every episode of the Society's Planetary Radio.
• In 2006, the Space Foundation awarded Aldrin its highest honor, the General James E. Hill Lifetime Space Achievement Award,^[33] which is presented annually to recognize outstanding individuals who have distinguished themselves through lifetime contributions to the welfare or betterment of humankind through the exploration, development and use of space, or the use of space technology, information, themes or resources in academic, cultural, industrial or other pursuits of broad benefit to humanity.
• For contributions to the television industry, Aldrin was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at Hollywood and Vine.^[34]
• Inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame in 2007.
• In 2009, President Obama signed legislation conferring the Congressional Gold Medal upon Aldrin, his Apollo 11 crewmates, and John Glenn.
• In a 2010 Space Foundation survey, Aldrin was ranked as the #9 (tied with astronauts Gus Grissom and Alan Shepard) most popular space hero.^[35]
• In 2011, Aldrin was nominated for Best Cameo at the 2011 Sceam Awards for his role playing himself in Transformers: Dark of the Moon.