1. Ilan Ramon served as a Space Shuttle payload specialist on STS-107, the fatal mission of Columbia, in which he and the six other crew members were killed when the spacecraft disintegrated during re-entry.
24 Facts About Ilan Ramon
1. 2.
Ilan Ramon is the only foreign recipient of the United States Congressional Space Medal of Honor, which was awarded posthumously.
3.
Ilan Ramon's father was from Germany, and his family fled Nazi persecution in 1935.
4.
Ilan Ramon was a Colonel and a fighter pilot in the Israeli Air Force, with thousands of hours of flying experience.
5.
Ilan Ramon began the fighter pilot's course at the Israeli Air Force Flight Academy in 1972, but was forced to suspend his studies after breaking his hand.
6.
Ilan Ramon served in an electronic warfare unit in the Sinai during the Yom Kippur War, and afterwards, returned to the flight academy.
7.
Ilan Ramon graduated from the fighter pilots' course in 1974.
8.
From 1974 to 1976, Ilan Ramon participated in A-4 Skyhawk Basic Training and Operations.
9.
In 1980, as one of the IAF's establishment team of the first F-16 Squadron in Israel, Ilan Ramon attended the F-16 Training Course at Hill Air Force Base, Utah.
10.
In 1981, Ilan Ramon was the youngest pilot taking part in Operation Opera, Israel's strike against Iraq's unfinished Osiraq nuclear reactor.
11.
From 1992 to 1994, Ilan Ramon was head of the Aircraft Branch in the Operations Requirement Department.
12.
Ilan Ramon accumulated over 3,000 flight hours on the A-4, Mirage IIIC, and F-4, and over 1,000 flight hours on the F-16.
13.
Ilan Ramon was designated to train as prime for a space shuttle mission with a payload that included a multispectral camera for recording desert aerosol.
14.
In July 1998, Ilan Ramon reported for training at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, where he trained until 2003.
15.
Ilan Ramon flew aboard STS-107, logging 15 days, 22 hours and 20 minutes in space.
16.
Ilan Ramon carried with him a pencil sketch, Moon Landscape, drawn by 16-year-old Petr Ginz, who was murdered in Auschwitz.
17.
Ilan Ramon took with him a microfiche copy of the Torah given to him by Israeli president Moshe Katsav and a miniature Torah scroll that was given to him by Prof.
18.
Ilan 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.
19.
Only two pages were displayed, one containing Ilan Ramon's notes, and the other is a copy of the Kiddush prayer.
20.
Ilan Ramon was survived by his wife, Rona, and their four children: Assaf, Tal, Yiftah, and Noa, who were in Florida at the time of the accident.
21.
Ilan Ramon lectured about dealing with grief and finding coping mechanisms.
22.
Ilan Ramon died of pancreatic cancer on December 17,2018.
23.
Ilan Ramon was posthumously awarded the Israel Prize for lifetime achievement.
24.
Tal Ilan Ramon performed his debut album, Dmut, at the club Zappa Tel Aviv in 2016.