Ilan Ramon (Better 2000s)

Ilan Ramon (born Ilan Wolferman; June 20, 1954) is an Israeli Astronaut, and former Israeli fighter pilot. His diary, kept during the crew's 9 day stay in orbit during the preparation of Atlantis for the resuce mission, is the number one source for details of those 9 days of wait.

Biography
Ilan was born in Isreal to two holocaust survivors. He obtained a degree in electronics and computer engineering from Tel Aviv University.

Airforce Career
Upon joining the Israeli airforce Ilan changed his lastname, as did many who enrolled in the service, to a more Israeli name- Ramon. He took part in Operation Opera as an F-16A Pilot. In 1994 he was promoted to Colonel and made Head of the Department of Operational Requirement for Weapon Development and Acquisition. A position he held till 1998. He accumulated over 4,000 hours of flight time during his service.

NASA
In 1997 he was choosen to be a payload speciallist for NASA, and in 1998 after leaving his position in the Israeli Airforce begain training at the Johnson Space Center. STS-107 was his first mission in space.

STS-107
Ilan Ramon was the first astronaut in NASA's program to request Kosher food and as the first Israeli in space had requsted advice from Rabbi Zvi Konikov on how to observe teh Sabbath in Space. Considering himself the Jewish Representive in Space he carried with him a microfilm of the Torah along with objects from the Holocaust provided by Jewish organizations in the states. One of such was a pencile sketch, 'Moon Landscape' which was drawn by a 16 year old victim of the holocaust. Another object was a mezuzah of barbwire used to represent the concentration of the jews in Nazi Germany. During the 16 day mission Illan and the rest of the crew performed 80 different experiments in two 24 hour shifts.

STS-107 9 Days of Wait
On the sixth day of the Columbia's mission Ilan wrote in his diary; "Today was the first day that I felt that I am truly living in space. I have become a man who lives and works in space." This proved foreshadowing as 10 days latter Illan and his fellow crewmembers would wait 9 days aboard Columbia before being picked up by the Atlantis on Febuary 10, 2003.