Israel’s astronauts in Space

Moshe Doubior, Business Development Manager
MCDI, Mini-Circuits Exclusive Representative in Israel

Ilan Ramon, the first Israeli Astronaut

Ilan Ramon was born in 1954 in Ramat-Gan, Israel. His father Eliezer fled Germany in 1935 and his mother Tonya survived the Auschwitz extermination camp. Ilan’s parents immigrated to Israel after the second world war, in 1949. Ilan grew up in the town of Beer Sheba (south of Israel) and graduated from high school in 1972. In 1972, Ilan graduated with a B.Sc. degree in electronics and computer engineering from the Tel Aviv University.

In 1974, Ilan graduated as fighter pilot from the Israel Air Force (IAF) Flight School. During his career as a fighter pilot, Ilan participated in numerous trainings and operations, few on Mirage III-C and took part in the first F-16 squadron in the Israeli Air Force and later served as Deputy Squadron Commander between 1981 and 1983.

In 1981, Israel carried out a strike in Iraq to destroy the Osirak nuclear reactor before its completion (Operation Opera). Ilan was the youngest of the pilots taking part in landmark this operation.

Between 1988 and 1990, Ilan served as Deputy Commander flying the F-4 Phantom. After completing his Commanders Course in 1992, Ilan became an F-16 Squadron Commander and was later promoted to the rank of Colonel in 1994. From 1994 until 1998, Ilan headed the Department of Operational Requirement for Weapon Development and Acquisition.

Over his career, Ilan Ramon accumulated over 3000 flight hours on the Mirage III-C and F-4 and over 1000 flight hours in the F-16.

In 1997 Ilan was selected by NASA as a payload specialist and trained between 1998 and 2003. On January 16, 2003, Ilan boarded the STS-107 (Columbia, science, and research mission), logging almost 16 days in space. Although Ilan was a secular Jew, since he was representing all Jews and Israelis in this mission, he decided to follow Jewish observance during his stay in Orbit. He was the first astronaut to request kosher food onboard. Along with him, Ilan took the following objects with him on his mission:

The Presidential Miracle: a flag representing the President of the State of Israel
The Israeli Flag
A stone carrying the Tel-Aviv University symbol
A small flag with the Israeli Air Force Museum symbol
A small flag with the Ramat Gan town symbol (his birth town)
A small flag with the Beer Sheba town symbol (the town where he grew up)
A small flag with the Blich scholl symbol (where his children studied)
A copy of a moon landscape picture drawn by 16 year old Petr Ginz who was exterminated in Auschwitz
A miniature Torah scroll given to him by professor Pr. Yehoyachin Cohen. Yehoyachin Cohen was born in the Netherlands and deported as a boy to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp with thousands of other Dutch Jews. There, at 13, he was secretly bar mitzvah with a small Torah scroll that had been smuggled into the camp. He thought by giving the Torah Scroll for Ilan Ramon to take with him to space that he would show it to the world as a symbol of how a person can go from the depths of hell to the heights of space.
A copy of the Torah on microfiche given to him by the President of Israel, Moshe Katsav.
A 1/8 Shekel coin from the great Jewish rebellion against the Roman Empire.
A few mezuzot.
A dollar from the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson

STS-107, the doomed Columbia mission, tragically claimed the lives of all seven members of the crew on February 1, 2003, including Ilan.

Ilan Ramon’s body was identified on February 5^th, 2003, and was brought back to Israel 5 days later. A ceremony was held in the Air Force base close to the Ben Gurion airport in the presence of his family, the President of the State of Israel, the Prime Minister of Israel, and NASA representatives. On February 11, Ilan Ramon was buried at the Nahalal cemetery with a full military ceremony. To conclude the ceremony, a 4 F-16 fighter formation flew over the cemetery, with one F-16 leaving the formation, symbolizing Ilan’s “departure”.

Ilan Ramon received the following posthumous awards:

Medal of Appreciation from the Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff
The Congressional Space Medal of Honor (only awarded to one non-American, Ilan Ramon)

Ilan reached for the stars, excelled throughout his life in everything he had done, in High school, in the Air Force and in NASA. He remains an inspiration to all. His testimony from Space was “From our perspective in space while orbiting earth, we are looking at you and see a world without frontiers filled with peace and splendor. We have a prayer in our hearts that the whole of Humanity will imagine the world as we see it without borders and that we will strive to live together in peace.

Watch a short video about Ilan Ramon https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=494BcHxcJNE

Eytan Stibbe , the second Israeli astronaut, the first Israeli space tourist

Eytan Stibbe was born in Haifa in 1958, grew up in the USA until the age of 7 when he returned to Israel (Ramat Gan) with his family. Eytan studied at the Blich High School in Ramat Gan. In 1976, Eytan started his fighter pilot training at the Israeli Air Force. He first flew a Skyhawk in various squadrons and then moved on to fly with an F-16 squadron where he flew under the command of Colonel Ilan Ramon (the first Israeli astronaut). After completing his active duty in 1984, Eytan carried on serving as a reserve pilot until 2012, with the rank of Colonel.

In 1984, Eytan joined an advisory team at the Israel Aircraft Industries, working on the development of the Lavi fighter jet. In 1985 he took part in founding the LR Group until 2011 when he sold his shares and acquired 35% of Mitrelli (an Engineering, Procurement and Construction company), acting in fields similar to those of the LR Group. In 2018, Eytan left Mitrelli and sold his shares. In 2010, Eytan founded the Vital Capital Fund, investing in companies generating positive and measurable social and environmental impact.

Eytan is also a member of the advisory committee of Bridges Israel (a fund investing in Israeli Businesses), a partner in HarTech (simulation Systems), LISOD, the Hospital of Israeli Oncology in Ukraine, Pangea Therapeutics and Proprep.

As part of the Ramon foundation, Eytan flew on the AX-1 mission on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket/Dragon vehicle (paying for his own ticket, and therefore making him the first Israeli “Space Tourist”). The mission launched on April 8, 2022, and returned to Earth on April 25, 2022, after spending 17 days in space (the majority of which were spent aboard the International Space Station). Eytan became the second Israeli astronaut and the first Israeli private astronaut to reach orbit and live on the International Space Station. On the Israeli side, the mission was led by the Ramon Foundation https://en.ramonfoundation.org.il/ in collaboration with the Israel Space Agency https://www.space.gov.il/en and the Ministry of Science and Technology, and included a variety of scientific experiments, art experiments, tests, and educational activities, including the first-ever access to the ISS in Hebrew.

Along with him, Eytan took the following objects with him on his mission:

Surviving pages from Ilan Ramon’s space diary
Mementos from his children
Matzos and other kosher food for Passover

Upon his return to earth, Eytan was congratulated by Israel’s President Isaac Herzog.

The Global Space Industry

February 13, 2023 No Comments

Space has fascinated and perplexed humans since the beginning of time. Evidence stretches back to prehistory, and space and stars can be found in religions, mythology, cosmology, and astrology. Our basic existence is dependent on the stars, moon, and sun, and our calendars, days, seasons, and so on are all related to them and their cycle. From the period when people thought the earth was flat to now, especially in the last half-century, space exploration has made great advances forward, with some even talking about making humanity multi-planetary.

The Israeli Space Industry

February 22, 2023 No Comments

Israel has a lengthy history of accomplishment in space, including technological advancement, applications, and competitive products. The Space Program began in the 1980s, when Israel was the ninth country in the world to successfully launch and position satellites in space. This was an extraordinary achievement for a country of less than 4 million inhabitants at the time.

The primary goal was and continues to be to build a comprehensive infrastructure for space research. Due to security concerns and a lack of resources, Israel has primarily focused on miniaturizing technologies and developing small, light satellites with high resolution, remote sensing, and communication capabilities. Israel is regarded as a world leader in this industry: a small country with a significant technological advantage. The primary activities of Israel’s space industry include satellite development, production, and operation, as well as the selling of communication services and remote sensing.

Space IL – The Israeli Moon landing mission

March 1, 2023 No Comments

The adventure began in 2011 with SpaceIL as the dream of three Israeli entrepreneurs: Yariv Bash, Kfir Damari, and Yehonatan Weintraub, and swiftly grew into a national project with numerous funders, collaborators, employees, and volunteers. Harvey Kaylie, the founder of Mini-Circuits (Z”L), became aware of this project and was one of the first to support this unique and historic endeavor aiming at strengthening the high-tech sector, promote education and see Mini-Circuits’ name literally reach the moon.