The conference was held in Lev Hall at Tel Aviv University on February 2 in the afternoon
Rona Ramon's words
Rona Ramon, the widow of the astronaut Ilan Ramon, mentioned to the students who filled Lev Hall at Tel Aviv University that when she met Ilan Ramon he was studying at Tel Aviv University and was then released from the army. She, by the way, was a student at the Wingate Institute at the time.
"They didn't accept him for electronics and computer engineering as he wanted, so he studied mechanical engineering for one year. When he excelled, they agreed to transfer him to electronics and computer engineering. The school period was a good time."
Ramon pointed out that when Ilan was a child, not only did he not think he would become an astronaut but he also didn't think he would succeed in being accepted into a pilot course due to a medical problem. "That's why we named the ceremony with the words 'no place is too far', because we will never know where we will end up. "I want to encourage each of you to keep dreaming. The happiness of fulfilling a dream makes a person happier. We need to always keep Ilan in our hearts with a smile and strive forward."
Prof. Yosef Yosef
Prof. Yehoyachin Yosef from Tel Aviv University, one of the people responsible for the Madex experiment, which Ramon carried out in space, said in a conversation with the Hidaan website: "We are now two years after the disaster. As I recall, we received our data in August 2003 because everything was frozen until then for the work of the investigative committee. Since then we have been analyzing the data. We finished the analysis of the sprites (night phenomena) and now we go through a second time to find raisins (such as the tiger). We are at the end of the analysis of the smoke plume, we have finished the analysis of the plane's data and some of them have even been published in scientific journals. Finally, we are two-thirds of the way through the analysis of the dust data, including the use of dust as a TRACER for undulating movements in the atmosphere. Until now, it was not possible to see these movements and they were identified only with the help of their effect on clouds, but we discovered that this detection is inferior to using dust as a marker."
Zvi Kaplan
Zvi Kaplan, director of the Israel Space Agency, said: "From the dawn of history and for thousands of years to this day, humanity has been striving and reaching for the sky - outer space in terms of striving for the unattainable and the incomprehensible. This is also expressed in an extensive and continuous cultural and scientific work. A work that also deals a lot with the limitations of man and his nothingness in front of the secrets of creation and the forces of nature.
In the second half of the 20th century, the accelerated scientific-technological development led by the superpowers was harnessed to the systematic exploration of space. "
"Due to this, some of the secrets of the beginning of the universe were revealed to us, the observation from space towards the planet Earth was deepened and the amount of knowledge increased. The achievements of research and development have even been applied to a considerable extent for the benefit of man and humanity also in economic aspects such as communication, weather forecasting, remote sensing and more."
"In the overall mosaic of research, the projects of manned flights in space have gained a unique place, and a very strong identification of broad publics all over the world, perhaps also due to the undermining of the boundaries between science fiction and emerging reality.
It began with the journey to conquer the moon and later with the shuttle flights and the establishment of the permanent space station. "
"And here we have won in Israel our own cultural hero. A man and pilot of the Israeli Air Force and the space pilot, Ilan Ramon, his memory is blessed.
Ilan who was chosen to fly in Colombia gained global exposure, but he especially stood out for being Israeli. Ilan represented a striving for excellence and perfection, achievement and not walking in the rut, but no less than that he won the hearts of all of us with his ability to radiate, even through the media, to those who did not know him, noble simplicity, humanity and exceptional grace of manners. Ilan participated in the shuttle experiments starting from the planning stage, through the implementation of the ideas and worked hard on the ability to execute them perfectly. How his wife said in Rona's ears, "feet on the ground and head in the clouds" and perhaps a head far beyond the clouds and feet planted in the pattern of the landscape of the homeland that imprinted on Yulan a stamp of mission, professional attitude and friendship."
"Ilan left us in front of the whole world, in a highly publicized and burning vision. The landing of the ferry and the crash were watched in every house and were both a dramatic and a tragic show, penetrating to the point of pain.
"To a certain extent, we have returned to the zero point where I began my speech: despite our tremendous achievements in space, our ability to deal with the forces of nature is limited. Even though we both: because accidents don't happen but are caused, the lesson will always be learned only partially when we touch the edges of the boundaries of knowledge and technology."
"Today we hear little and we hope that we will continue to hear in the future about the achievements of the Midex experiment. We knew that scientific work requires careful and systematic planning and especially for experiments in a space environment where the ability to intervene after launch is almost zero. This is the magic and uniqueness of the culture of space making, the end of the act in creative but above all meticulous thought."
"I, along with you, am curious and excited to hear the astronaut Dr. Mike Misimino. I wouldn't be surprised if there are similarities and a common denominator for the heroes of the period, as mentioned by Ilan Zakrono
Let us then listen to the words on these two important and fascinating subjects and from time to time reflect and look at Ilan's illuminating and radiant face that was so easy for us to love and connect with. "
I am curious to hear the words of astronaut Michael Massimino, who has a PhD in mechanical engineering from MIT, and specializes in human-machine interface problems in space. Massimino was selected as an astronaut candidate by NASA in May 1996 and in March 2002 he flew on flight STS-109 - Columbia's penultimate flight for the fourth upgrade mission of the Hubble Space Telescope. For this purpose, he performed a spacewalk lasting 14 hours and 46 minutes. The subject of his talk: "Back to the Moon, Forward to Mars: The Future of Space Exploration".
Michael Massimino's words (pictured)
Massimino spoke about his experiences on his flight, and about the acquaintance he had with Ilan Ramon through his wife Carol, who became friends with Rona Ramon. "He was humble, a successful son, father and husband - an example of what I would like everyone to be. I recommend everyone to visit the exhibition at Kibbutz Yifat or watch it when you wander around the country. It presents the things that Ilan Ramon would have brought with him and describe to you here today if he had returned in peace."
Masimino then answered the audience's questions, including our own. "I would love to return to Hubble, but I was not assigned to this mission, which has since been canceled because it was decided that a flight to Hubble is less safe than a flight to the International Space Station. I am on the team examining the possibility of launching a robotic spacecraft that will do at least some of the tasks we wanted to do using astronauts, but such a task is also expensive."
In response to our question regarding the cancellation of the budget, Massimino said that he hopes that this is a calculation exercise and that in the end the legislators will provide the necessary budget. In any case, NASA has a budget until the fall. Then we'll see."
Is the date of the next flight, May 2005 certain, or will it be postponed further?
"There were always flight delays, even before the disaster. The flight itself, STS-107, was delayed several times from October 2001 until it was finally launched in January 2003. Although NASA is talking about May, there is a 22-day window until the beginning of June. Then there are also a few days in July. We hope the flight will take place in May. In any case, NASA is working according to this plan."
