Ilan Ramon

Born in Ramat Gan, Israel, to Tonya (1929–2003) and Eliezer Wolfferman (1923–2006), a family of Ashkenazi Jewish descent, Ramon grew up in Beersheba.

His father was from Germany, and his family fled Nazi persecution in 1935.

His mother and grandmother were from Poland, and were Holocaust survivors, having been in Auschwitz.

They emigrated to Israel in 1949.

Ramon's first name, Ilan, means "tree" in Hebrew.

Ramon Hebraizied his surname from Wolfferman to Ramon, a more "Israeli (Sabra)" name, when he joined the Israeli Air Force (IAF).

This was customary and expected of IAF pilots, as well as among IDF senior officers at the time.

Ilan Ramon (אילן רמון;, born Ilan Wolfferman (אילן וולפרמן); June 20, 1954 – February 1, 2003) was an Israeli fighter pilot and later the first Israeli astronaut.

He 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.

At 48, Ramon was the oldest member of the crew.

He is the only foreign recipient of the United States Congressional Space Medal of Honor, which was awarded posthumously.

Ramon graduated from high school in 1972.

He 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.

Ramon served in an electronic warfare unit in the Sinai during the Yom Kippur War, and afterwards, returned to the flight academy.

He graduated from the fighter pilots' course in 1974.

From 1974 to 1976, Ramon participated in A-4 Skyhawk Basic Training and Operations.

From 1976 to 1980, he participated in training and operations for the Mirage IIIC.

In 1980, as one of the IAF's establishment team of the first F-16 Squadron in Israel, Ramon attended the F-16 Training Course at Hill Air Force Base, Utah.

From 1981 to 1983, he served as the Deputy Squadron Commander B, F-16 Squadron.

In 1981, Ramon was the youngest pilot taking part in Operation Opera, Israel's strike against Iraq's unfinished Osiraq nuclear reactor.

The facility was destroyed, killing ten Iraqi soldiers and one French researcher.

Ramon also participated in the 1982 Lebanon War.

In 1987, he graduated with a B.Sc. degree in electronics and computer engineering from Tel Aviv University.

Ramon was a Colonel (Aluf Mishne) and a fighter pilot in the Israeli Air Force, with thousands of hours of flying experience.

After attending the Tel Aviv University, Ramon served as Deputy Squadron Commander A, 119 Squadron, flying the F-4 Phantom (1988–1990).

In 1990, he attended the Squadron Commanders Course and between 1990 and 1992, commanded 117 Squadron, flying the F-16.

From 1992 to 1994, Ramon was head of the Aircraft Branch in the Operations Requirement Department.

In 1994, he was promoted to the rank of colonel and assigned as head of the Department of Operational Requirement for Weapon Development and Acquisition.

In 1997, 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).

Ramon stayed at this post until 1998.

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.

In July 1998, Ramon reported for training at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, where he trained until 2003.

Ramon flew aboard STS-107, logging 15 days, 22 hours and 20 minutes in space.

STS-107 Columbia (January 16 – February 1, 2003), a 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.

Personally nonreligious, Ramon performed traditional observance while in orbit: "I feel I am representing all Jews and all Israelis."

He was the first astronaut to request kosher food and marked the Sabbath.

The STS-107 mission ended abruptly when Space Shuttle Columbia was destroyed and its crew died during re-entry, 16 minutes before the scheduled landing.

Ramon, whose mother and grandmother were survivors of Auschwitz, was asked by S. Isaac Mekel, director of development at the American Society for Yad Vashem, to take an item from Yad Vashem aboard STS-107.