Portal:Space exploration/Biography/Week 42 2007

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Ilan Ramon (June 20, 1954 - February 1, 2003; Hebrew: אילן רמון‎) was a combat 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 the other crew were killed in a re-entry accident over Texas. Ramon is a recipient of the Congressional Space Medal of Honor.

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).

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) during 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.