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ILAN RAMON
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Born June 20, 1954 in Tel
Aviv, Israel. Ramon received a bachelor of science degree in
electronics and computer engineering from the University of Tel
Aviv, Israel. Ramon and his wife, Rona, have four children, Asaf,
Tal, David, and Noaa. |
Colonel Ramon was a
fighter pilot and 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. He fought in
the Yom Kippur War in 1973 and Operation Peace for Galilee (1982). From
1994-98 he served as Head of the Department of Operational Requirements
for Weapons Development and Acquisition.
He was the first Israeli astronaut and the payload specialist on STS-107
Columbia. He was the prime crewmember for the Mediterranean Israeli Dust
Experiment (MEIDEX). The mission ended abruptly when Space Shuttle
Columbia and its crew perished during entry, 16 minutes before scheduled
landing.
Ilan Ramon made the ultimate sacrifice and lost his life in service to
the space program on February 1, 2003 at 48 years of age.
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