From the website of the Ministry of Science, Culture and Sports
Space On December 11, 1995, at a press conference that was held at the end of the visit of the then Prime Minister Mr. Shimon Peres to the then US President, Mr. Bill Clinton, it was announced: "Agreement to begin space-based experiments in the sustainable use of water and environmental protection" And that as part of this effort, the US will train Israeli astronauts to participate in these programs."
As part of this cooperation, and further to the cooperation agreement signed that year between the heads of NASA and Israel, it was agreed to carry out an Israeli experiment which will be operated by an Israeli astronaut and which will be launched in the summer of 2002.
"Mediterranean Israeli Dust Experiment (MEIDEX)," includes remote sensing systems in the infrared, visible and near-infrared areas of the spectrum with an array of electro-optical detectors.
The experiment will be launched on the space shuttle COLUMBIA in order to obtain calibrated simulations of desert dust carried over seas and land.
The experiment will provide reliable scientific data on atmospheric suspensions as well as supplementary data for the systems
The Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer
(TOMS) and Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectro-radiometer instruments. (MODIS)
of NASA.
In one of the future flights of the space shuttle, the Israeli astronaut will perform the experiments on the remote sensing systems during a two-week flight.
The main experiment is the study of the changes in the geographical space of the chemical and physical properties of desert aerosols including location data and changes in the timeline of its sources, the areas of deposition and convection.
The main area of interest of the experiment is the Mediterranean area and its immediate surroundings.
Simultaneous airborne and ground-based support operations include optical observations and direct sampling of the aerosol dust.
The MEIDEX experiment on the shuttle includes remote measurements of the radiation scattered by the aerosol dust particles at six different wavelengths from the near infrared to the near infrared.
The mount includes a CCD radiometric camera mounted on a gimbal system that allows orientation.
The camera will operate in the aforementioned spectrum areas.
The wavelengths include two found in the TOMS system and four included in the MODIS system.
A video camera with a wide field of view in the field of white light will allow observation of a large area around the field of view of the experimental device and detection of the presence of aerosols.
The camera will aim at suitable areas and will be used to observe an atmospheric volume that includes desert aerosols, with a ground footprint of 100 2 km, over sea or land.
The camera, which will go through a calibration procedure before the flight, will also go through calibration procedures during the flight using the moon and targets on the ground.
The astronaut will perform visibility measurements at angles through the atmosphere using an array of pre-selected ground targets.
Combining the measurements from the shuttle, from the airborne systems and the ground measurements will allow a comparison of data such as from the TOMS and MODIS systems regarding those aerosols and their verification.
Predicting the formation of plumes of aerosols and their location using the model will be used to plan the experiments that will be performed by the astronauts and sent to the shuttle.
Also, such plumes will be located by the astronaut who will make the observations and record the data on them.
The main researchers of the MEIDEX project are: Prof. Yosef Yosef and Prof. Zeev Levin
The other researchers - Prof. Yuri Meckler, Prof. Petar Israelevich,
Dr. Eliezer Ganor, Dr. Adam Dvir, Dr. Edmond Klodz,
Dr. Yoav Yair and Dr. Tamir Raizin.
The Israeli pilot Col. Ilan Ramon has been training for several years in the USA at NASA's astronaut training facilities.
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