The former Israeli fighter pilot will carry out 35 experiments during his 10-day sojourn in orbit as a mission specialist on the first private mission to the ISS.

By JNS.org

Businessman Eyan Stibbe on Sunday became the second Israeli to go to space and the first Israeli astronaut to board the International Space Station, after the SpaceX module carrying him and three others successfully docked with the station.

The 64-year old former Israel Air Force fighter pilot is a mission specialist for Axiom Mission 1 (Ax-1), the first private astronaut mission to the International Space Station. The mission is an initiative of Houston-based company Axiom Space, which seeks to create the first private space station.

Stibbe and his crewmates, mission commander Michael López-Alegría, pilot Larry Connor and mission specialist Mark Pathy, lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 launch vehicle.

The team is scheduled to spend 10 days in orbit, during which time Stibbe is to complete 35 experiments.

Stibbe’s list of experiments was finalized by the Ramon Foundation, the Israel Space Agency and the Israeli Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology.

Israel’s first astronaut, former fighter jet pilot Ilan Ramon, was killed in 2003 when the NASA Space shuttle Columbia broke apart during re-entry, killing all seven crew members.

The post Eytan Stibbe becomes 2nd Israeli in space, 1st to visit International Space Station appeared first on World Israel News.

A scientific committee, overseen by top Israeli space scientist Inbal Kreiss, will choose 10-15 Israeli experiments for the International Space Station (ISS), CTech reports.

The post WATCH: Israel in Space: Experiments will travel to International Space Station appeared first on World Israel News.

Eytan Stibbe, a former fighter pilot, is slated to take off for space from Florida during the last months of 2021.

By Lauren Marcus, World Israel News

Israel is preparing to send its second-ever astronaut into space, Israeli President Reuven Rivlin announced at a Jerusalem press conference on Monday.

Eytan Stibbe, a former fighter pilot, is slated to take off for space from Florida during the last months of 2021.

He is expected to spend 200 hours at the International Space Station. Three months before taking off, he will undergo intense training in Russia, Germany, and the U.S.

“This is a day of national celebration and immense pride,” said Rivlin. “An Israeli pilot, with a blue and white flag on his uniform, is proving once again, as we have proved here over the last 72 years, that even the skies are not the limit.”

“My dear Eytan, up there…you will do Israeli experiments, some of which have been developed by our young people. You will be the messenger of those brilliant brains, the present and future generations of Israeli research, and will help them understand how the world works when we look at it from afar.

“You will be Israel’s representative in a human effort to understand the wonderful workings that allow life on this planet, and uncover the secrets of the universe.

“We give you our blessings for the way and wish you great success. Go in peace and return in peace, and do not forget to wave to us from up there. We are waiting for you here at home.”

Israel’s first astronaut, Ilan Ramon, was killed in the 2003 space shuttle Columbia disaster.

Ramon’s eldest son Assaf was later killed in an accident during a training flight, just three months after graduating from the Israeli Air Force pilots’ course as the top cadet in his class.

Tal Ramon, Ilan Ramon’s younger son, spoke at the press conference and said his late mother would have been thrilled at the news. Stibbe is a longtime friend of the Ramon family.

“I’m very excited because I know if my mother were standing here she would put up her hands in victory like this, and speak very proudly about our friend, a friend I remember from my very first memories,” he said.

The post Israel preparing to send second astronaut into space appeared first on World Israel News.

Education Minister Naftali Bennett called Rona Ramon “a hero of Israel.”

By Algemeiner Staff

The late Rona Ramon, who passed away in December at the age of 54 after a battle with pancreatic cancer, will be posthumously awarded an Israel Prize this year for her education activism, it was announced on Tuesday.

Among other efforts, Ramon – who tragically lost her husband, Ilan, in the 2003 Space Shuttle Columbia disaster and her son, Assaf, in a 2009 Israeli Air Force training accident – established the Ramon Foundation to promote youth interest in science and technology.

Ramon’s three surviving children – Tal, Yiftah, and Noa – said in a statement on Tuesday: “Our mother was able to take a life which was painful and turn it to a life-long mission that gives other people hope.”

Education Minister Naftali Bennett called Ramon “a hero of Israel in terms of generosity and light.”

The post Rona Ramon to be posthumously awarded Israel Prize for education activism appeared first on World Israel News.

The invitation to the families of the Columbia crew was extended by Ilan Ramon’s widow, who died last month from an illness.

By David Jablinowitz, World Israel News

President Reuven Rivlin and his wife Nechama met Sunday with the seven families of the crew of the Space Shuttle Columbia mission which, on February 1, 2003, disintegrated upon re-entering earth’s atmosphere, killing all the crew members, including Israeli astronaut Ilan Ramon.

The families are visiting Israel at the invitation of Rona Ramon, Ilan’s widow, who died in December from an illness.

In extending the invitation, she said that she had wanted the families to participate in Israeli Space Week and to attend a memorial ceremony for Ilan. Following Rona’s death, the president and his wife acceded to the request of Ilan and Rona’s children to host this event at the Presidential Residence in Jerusalem.

Before the gathering, Tal, Yiftach, and Noa Ramon met privately with the Rivlins in the president’s study. Another sibling, Assaf Ramon, was killed in an Israel Air Force fighter jet crash during an advanced pilot training course in 2009.

The families of the Columbia space shuttle presented the president with a picture taken at the training compound in 2002, several months before the disaster. It shows the space suits of the American astronauts hanging with U.S. flags on the sleeves, and the Israeli flag on the sleeve of Ilan Ramon’s suit.

Columbia was NASA’s first space shuttle. It carried out 28 missions and flew 160 astronauts.

Space Week was the initiative of Rona Ramon and includes conferences for researchers and educational events for over 100,000 children.

Proud of the Ramon Foundation

Evelyn Husband-Thompson, the wife of the commander of the Columbia mission Rick Husband, thanked the president, saying: “We are all so proud of you, and proud of the Ramon Foundation. It is difficult and emotional, but we also look forward to the future. On behalf of all the families, we are so happy to be here.”

“I want to welcome you all here – not as guests but as family,” said the president. “When we think of the seven crew members of the Columbia, we feel deep grief, but also boundless pride. They flew to the heavens to push the boundaries of human knowledge.

“Every Israeli knows where they were 16 years ago when they heard the terrible news. The stories of the brave astronauts on the space shuttle have become part of the story of the State of Israel,” Rivlin added.

“Only a month ago, we said good-bye to Rona Ramon. Rona honored the memory of her husband and her son through the Ramon Foundation, which gives young people from all backgrounds the opportunity to make their dreams come true. That is what I believe Israeli Space Week represents – inspiration for the next generation, for all of us, not just to explore the mysteries of space, but to build a better world here on earth,” he said.

The post Israel’s president hosts Columbia mission families: ‘They flew to the heavens’ appeared first on World Israel News.

Rona Ramon, widow of late Israeli astronaut Ilan Ramon, succumbed to cancer at 54.

By World Israel News Staff

Rona Ramon, wife of the late Ilan Ramon, an Israeli fighter pilot and the first Israeli astronaut for NASA, succumbed to pancreatic cancer on Monday at the age of 54.

Ilan was killed in the Columbia space shuttle disaster in 2003.

Rona also lost a son, Assaf, in 2009. An IAF pilot as well, he was killed in a training accident.

A social activist who promoted the education and advancement of youth in Israel, Rona subsequently founded the Ramon Foundation, which “aims to ignite the three essential values which Ilan and Asaf Ramon stood for – academic excellence, social leadership and groundbreaking courage.”

In 2016, she was among the torchbearers at the annual Independence Day ceremony on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem.

“My wife Sara and I express deep sorrow over the passing of Rona Ramon. Rona stood bravely after the deaths of her husband Ilan and her son Asaf, our beloved pilots, may their memories be for a blessing,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement. “She battled cancer with the same bravery, but to our sorrow, succumbed today. We will always remember her and her splendid family. May her memory be for a blessing.”

The post Rona Ramon, widow of Israel’s first astronaut for NASA, dies at 54 appeared first on World Israel News.