Biography

Ilan Ramon, Colonel of the Israeli Air Force, was born on June 20th, 1954 in Tel Aviv. On January 16th, 2003 he entered the Columbia space shuttle for a 16-day mission. On reentry, on Saturday, 1st February 2003 (29th Shvat 5763), just 16 minutes before its scheduled landing at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the space shuttle Columbia broke up in the skies over Texas, killing all seven crew members, including Israeli astronaut Ilan Ramon. Ilan Ramon leaves a wife, Rona and four children.

He was buried in Israel at Moshav Nahalal Cemetery on February 10th 2003 (8th of First Adar 5763).

Ilan Ramon grew up in Beer Sheva and was considered an outstanding student.

During the Yom Kippur War (1973) Ramon was in pilot training. In 1974, Ramon graduated as a fighter pilot from the Israel Air Force Flight School. From 1974-1976 he participated in A-4 basic training and operations. The years 1976-1980 were spent in Mirage III-C training and operations. In 1980, as one of the IAF's establishment team of the first F-16 Squadron in Israel, he attended the F-16 Training Course at Hill Air Force Base in Utah. From 1981-1983 he served as the Deputy Squadron Commander B, F-16 Squadron; in 1981 he helped plan and took part in the Israeli attack on the Iraqi nuclear reactor. He fought in the "Operation Peace for Galilee" (1982) War.

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

From 1988 he served as Deputy Squadron Commander A, F-4 Phantom Squadron. During 1990, he attended the Squadron Commanders Course. From 1990/1992, he served as Squadron Commander, F-16 Squadron. From 1992-1994, he was Head of the Aircraft Branch in Operations Requisitions 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 Acquisitions. He stayed in this post until 1998.

Colonel Ramon 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.

In 1997, he was selected as a Payload Specialist and was designated to train for a Columbia Space Shuttle Mission with a payload that included a multispectral camera for recording desert aerosol effects on the climate of the Middle East. In July 1998 he reported for training at the Johnson Space Center, Houston.

Ramon's 16 days in space started on January 16th, 2003. On board were six Americans, Rick D. Husband, Michael P. Anderson, David Brown, Kalpana Chawla, Laurel Blair Salton Clark, William C. McCool and Ilan Ramon, the first Israeli in space, a full crew member of the shuttle.

May his memory be blessed!