Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Breaking News

Exhibit Honors Israeli Astronaut Killed in Columbia Shuttle Tragedy

JERUSALEM — Pieces of equipment used by Ilan Ramon, a member of the ill-fated Columbia space shuttle crew 13 years ago, went on display in Israel.

Ramon and the six other astronauts aboard the shuttle were killed when Columbia broke apart upon reentry into the earth’s atmosphere.

The exhibition on loan from NASA includes the camera Ramon used on the shuttle, his control system, a recording drive and other pieces of electronic equipment, the Times of Israel reported. It also includes parts of the Mediterranean Israeli Dust Experiment he was working on in space.

Ramon’s widow had asked NASA to allow the artifacts to go on display in Israel.

“I’m moved that the head of NASA remembered my request and that he answered affirmatively that we could bring parts of the shuttle to Israel to enable our young people to get inspiration from the stories of Ilan,” Rona Ramon told Israel’s Channel 2 about the exhibit at the Israel Air Force House in Herzliya.

“We hope that the next generation will take heart and inspiration from the story of Ilan and the shuttle.”

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.