The Ilan Ramon celebrations hid some strange facts related to the "first Israeli astronaut" project: how did an essentially civilian project become the property of the Air Force? What is the involvement of the security system and why did they try to hide it? Why was a pilot chosen for the mission and not a scientist? What is the real value of the Israeli scientific experiment
Tamara Traubman
It was published in the Haaretz supplement under the title: "Is it a plane? is it a spaceship it's a balloon"
Ilan Ramon. NASA does not define him as an "astronaut" but as a "cargo specialist", the lowest category in the shuttle's hierarchy.
Last Thursday at five o'clock in the afternoon, a large hall at Tel Aviv University was filled with professors, students, soldiers and Air Force officers. Also there was the Minister of Education, Limor Livnat, who for the past few weeks has also been serving as the Minister of Science. Everyone came to watch Ilan Ramon's launch into space on a huge screen. In a rare public appearance, Brigadier General (Ret.) Haim Ashad, head of the Israeli space program at the Ministry of Defense, gave a speech about Israel's "power" in space and listed its achievements. A representative of the science-seeking Mandar spoke about the importance of space exploration. All the seats in the hall were occupied, people also crowded the stairs and poked their heads out of the doorways when Livnat stood up for a short speech and said that the upcoming launch was "the victory of the Jewish people and the State of Israel."
Close to the time of the launch, David Zosiman, a member of the Student Forum for the Promotion of Space Research in Israel, grabbed the microphone and began to count aloud the seconds before the launch: "ten-nine-eight-seven-six-five-four..." At this point, the audience joined him enthusiastically: "... three-two-one", then Zossiman roared: "Launch!" The crowd was ecstatic. "Gentlemen", Zusiman continued to scream into the microphone, "the launch of the Columbia shuttle flight with the first Israeli astronaut on board has started!" Applause and shouts of joy filled the packed hall.
Eshel, a second grade student who was sitting next to his mother in the front row, said quietly: "I'd rather be an accounting teacher." Only a six-year-old boy could have made such a heretical comment on Thursday, when Israel seemed to have conquered the last frontier: space. The plumes of smoke emitted after the launch of the shuttle hid the fact that behind the project "the first Israeli astronaut in space" big question marks are hidden. For example, why was a fighter pilot sent to fly in a space shuttle?; For example, why would two experiments of questionable or controversial scientific value be conducted in space on behalf of Israel and why were they presented to the public in a misleading manner; For example, the ramified connections between the space project and the Israeli security system that everyone tried to disguise.
But on Thursday no one was interested in such trifles. The television broadcasts showed Israelis standing in malls in front of television screens; Channel 1 broadcast a special broadcast day; Channel 2 chose the slogan "Israeli history in space"; Channel 10 embedded a ticking back clock on its screens, which evoked a feeling that the world was moving towards a fateful moment. The desire to disconnect from Israeli reality, even for a moment, led everyone to devote themselves to vanity, to an operation that has no real bearing on our lives.
Arad Nir, the foreign news editor of Channel 2, gave an excited report about Gazit: "The unusual thing from the point of view of the whole world here is that Ilan Ramon, the Israeli astronaut, is on the spacecraft." Nir diligently collected video clips from foreign networks and presented them as evidence of the "excitement" caused by Ramon. Fact: A Sky-News broadcaster clearly said that the "first Israeli in space" was participating in the flight; And here on CNN, in the accompanying caption, it was explicitly stated that there are six crew members and one Israeli on the shuttle. "The launch is routine," Nir pointed out, "but the whole world is excited by the fact that the first Israeli is going into space."
There is nothing "routine" about launching a shuttle into space. The complexity, the meticulous planning, the budget of millions, and the countless details that can go wrong, all of these make each launch a unique and large technical operation in itself. Every year NASA launches about six shuttles into space and yet the US press continues to report on each launch with admirable detail and devotion. Launches of foreign astronauts also receive extensive coverage. CNN and "Fox" broadcast the launches live. Not even a launch like this gets even a small mention in Israel when there is no Israeli on the ferry, one whose parents and friends can be interviewed. This is what really interests Israelis. Not space.
Because of the "routine" the journalists in the USA are also forced to look for a new curiosity to hold on to, in order to bring interest to the launch broadcast: sometimes it is a particularly complex spacewalk, sometimes it is the launch of another part for the space station (which is being built in space by the USA, Europe, Canada and Japan ) or placing a new research satellite. This time this curiosity was Ilan Ramon. A curiosity. no more than that.
Professor Giora Shabiv, an expert in cosmology from the Technion in Haifa, was not amused by this. "The whole story is unnecessary - including the experiment," says Shabib. "I think this is provincialism in all its glory. I would also like to fly into space, I also want to be paid for a flight, it should be an unusual flight. But I wouldn't make a big deal out of the fact that Giora Shabib was put into space. In the same way, mice could also be put into space. I am definitely an Israeli patriot, but this story of sending an Israeli astronaut is pitiful and a complete waste." This waste, by the way, cost Israel more than two million dollars.
"It's like fireworks on Independence Day. A complete waste of money," agrees Prof. Zvi Piran, an astrophysicist from the Hebrew University and a member of the Israel Space Agency's steering committee, "it doesn't give you anything but makes you feel good."
The astronaut, why him?
The only thing that was routine about the event was the launch of a non-American astronaut. To date, NASA has sent dozens of foreign astronauts into space: at least 23 astronauts from Spain, Japan, Brazil, France, Sweden, Canada, Italy, Germany and Switzerland participated in the agency's shuttle flights. In addition, there are about 20 astronauts from the United States, some of whom have already flown with NASA four or five times.
Ramon was not included in this list at all: NASA does not define him as an "astronaut" but as a "cargo specialist", a category that is at the bottom of the shuttle hierarchy. Cargo specialists are people selected by private-commercial companies or research organizations, and trained to monitor and operate cargo on the shuttle.
"'Payload experts' are people with careers in science or engineering, selected by their employers or their country because of their expertise in performing a particular experiment or economic initiative on a space shuttle mission," NASA explains. Ramon meets this requirement partially and minimally: he has a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Tel Aviv University.
What, in fact, qualified Ramon, an F-16 pilot whose last position was head of the munitions department, to be the first Israeli in space?
A cargo specialist does not need to be a pilot. Launching a fighter pilot into space on the basis of a payload specialist is an Israeli innovation. None of the payload experts were fighter pilots (except for one Frenchman, who came from the French Air Force, who had previously been trained as an astronaut in Russia). On the other hand, almost all of them have doctorate degrees in science, and have successful scientific careers, who were selected, in accordance with the requirements of the position, based on their scientific achievements. By the way, the French pilot also had a doctorate in science.
"Why does this also have to be a military matter?" Prof. Zvi Piren wonders. "This is a study. Why does this also have to go through the Air Force? The answer is, because any other factor would not have obtained money, and that is what is unfortunate about this story." Piren adds that the policy of the Israel Space Agency, as expressed many times by the agency's chairman, Prof. Yuval Naman, was that "many countries have launched astronauts and we will not launch just any astronaut without need. That is, we will launch it only if there is a scientific need,
Or we ourselves will manage to reach such a thing. This was the policy that was correct for years, and did not take into account public opinion."
Israel at that time did not have anything special to do in space, and an astronaut - although according to Prof. Neman, already in the XNUMXs he was offered to send an Israeli into space - was not sent.
In the middle of 1996 there was a turning point, which the heads of the space agency did not expect. Major General Eitan Ben Eliyahu was appointed commander of the Air Force. Ben Eliyahu saw space as an essential expansion channel for the army, "it will be a necessary condition for the operation of the air force in the future". He envisioned the space race in the early days of NASA. The agency grew out of the Cold War to defeat the Soviets in the battle for the moon. John Kennedy gave a special speech to the American nation in which he promised to "put a man on the moon by the end of the decade".
Ben Eliyahu was fascinated by the fame that the agency won after the target was successfully captured, and wanted to reproduce it, on a small scale, also in Israel "for the development and scientific and security research".
Shortly before he was appointed commander of the Air Force, Ben Eliyahu convinced the former Chief of Staff Amnon Lipkin-Shahak to work towards sending a pilot from the Air Force into space, and Lipkin-Shahak directed the request to Shimon Peres.
On December 11, 1995, Peres arrived as Prime Minister for a visit to Washington and raised the idea of sending an Israeli astronaut to Bill Clinton. Clinton gave general consent to speak. According to Ben Eliyahu, "There was nothing written anywhere. It came up half-jokingly at some dinner party", but the joke gained momentum.
"From the moment I was appointed, I took advantage of the fact that I could pick up the phone to NASA and say 'Hello, the Commander of the Air Force speaks' and you can't hang up the phone," continues Ben Eliyahu, "On my first visit to the United States as Commander of the Air Force, I already met the person who was then head NASA, Dan Goldin, who is also Jewish."
Ben Eliyahu continued to put pressure on politicians and ambassadors, until in '97 the Israeli reservist was promised a place in the course starting the next year. At this point, Ben Eliyahu came to the conclusion that it was impossible for an astronaut, a combat flight officer in the Air Force, to just hang around idly in a space shuttle. He turned to Yitzhak Ben Israel, who was then the head of the Administration for the Development of Weapons and Technological Infrastructure (MPAAT) in the Ministry of Defense, and told him: "Itzik, come be responsible for the matter, and you will also have a say in what the experiment will be."
But as much as they wanted, the army and the Ministry of Defense could not launch a military experiment on the NASA shuttle. "Also Goldin told me at the time that it was impossible for the experiment to look military," Ben Eliyahu said. "I was afraid of NASA's reluctance, in terms of image, they don't want a military image but a scientific-human image." More or less at this point, the Israeli Space Agency was brought into the picture.
When it became known that NASA would send an Israeli into space, various bodies proposed names of educators, doctors, young and successful students. But the Air Force was not going to give up the award. He insisted that the "first Israeli astronaut" would come from his ranks. "It's only natural," Ben Eliyahu explained. It so happened that the director of the Israel Space Agency, Avi Har-Evan, a former man in the aerospace industry, rejected all the other candidates outright and was happy to transfer the selection task to members of the military. Why, actually? What qualified Ramon, an F-16 pilot whose last position was head of the munitions department, to be the first Israeli in space? After all, knowledge of aviation is not one of the requirements for a cargo specialist.
"The guy just came to my approval and I approved him as a candidate," says Har-Evan. In other words, it's not that NASA was looking for a good payload specialist for Flight 107 and chose Ramon over all the other candidates. NASA simply accepted Israel's choice.
Israel went out of its way to give Ramon's flight a unique character. The chairman of the Israel Space Agency, Prof. Yuval Na'man, invited journalists to his office this summer and explained: "We are not like the Arabs. We are not hitchhikers in space." He was mainly referring to Salman Abdul-Aziz al-Saud of Saudi West, who launched a cargo specialist standard in 1985. "Al-Saud did nothing in space, only excitedly broadcast his experiences," he said.
But at the Johnson Space Center, the training center for the astronauts, al-Saud is remembered positively. It is said that he took an active part in the missions of the team that installed three communication satellites: Saudi West, from Mexico and on behalf of the American company AT&T. Besides Al-Saud and Ramon, NASA sent another 12 foreign cargo experts.
The experiment - who needs it
At this stage they started looking for an experiment that would keep the astronaut busy during his stay in space. The trial selection procedure raises difficult questions. Avi Har-Evan, director of the Israel Space Agency, claims that the experiment was chosen for reasons of scientific excellence, and that the agency reported to researchers at the universities about the space experiment and asked them to submit research proposals. However, climate scientists say that this request did not reach them.
The chief scientist of the Ministry of Science, Prof. Hagit Maser-Yeron, says: "There was no 'call' for the experiment in the Ministry of Science's procedure. It didn't go through us, I don't know if it went through the procedure of another government ministry." Prof. Daniel Rosenfeld from the Hebrew University, which conducts the main research in Israel in the study of the effect of dust on rain, says that he learned about the experiment "only when everything was already closed".
Surprisingly (or maybe not), many of the people did know about the possibility of submitting related proposals in the Air Force. "We turned to those we know who are working in the field," admitted Yitzhak Ben Israel, who was the head of Mafat at the time the project started. The idea of publishing, as is customary today in the Ministry of Science, an ad in the newspaper informing the entire research community of an opportunity to submit research applications seemed to him quite ridiculous.
The selected experiment is known as MIDS. And again, completely by chance (or maybe not) the person who heads it is the former head of the Space Agency, Prof. Ze'ev Levin from Tel Aviv University. Together with him, the experiment is led by Prof. Yehoyachin Yosef. The purpose of the experiment: to measure dust particles over the Mediterranean Sea. Experts believe that dust has an effect on creating rain. Israel invested two million dollars in the experiment, and this is without taking into account the cost of holding the Ramon family for four and a half years, as well as the cost of holding Yitzhak Mayo for about a year. This is an unusual amount within the meager science budget of the science community in Israel. For comparison, an average research grant from the "National Science Foundation" (which gives the largest research grants in Israel) usually does not exceed 50 thousand dollars. That is, with the two million dollars invested in Madex, it was possible to give research grants to 40 different research groups, which would not send a representative into space.
"The whole story is unnecessary, including the experiment," says cosmologist Prof. Giora Shabib. "You don't need an astronaut to hold the camera in space. It is enough to put it on a satellite and keep it there for two years. There may not be a sandstorm and the whole experiment will be for nothing. Don't get me wrong, Israel and the Israeli space industry have extraordinary achievements. The satellites that Israel put into space are the splendor of technology. Israel does not need such a stupid gimmick, an experiment of dust in space. It's just throwing dust in people's eyes. I heard a lecture from Prof. Yosef Yosef (one of the leaders of the project), and I was convinced that it could be done much more efficiently with a satellite from space. Fifty people came to me and said to me, 'Gyora, you are right, but we cannot say such a thing.' They are fed by budgets that come from the government. I am definitely an Israeli patriot, maybe even too much, but this story of sending an astronaut is a colossal waste of money scientifically because almost everything could be done with automatic satellites, and what I am claiming is actually what Freeman Dyson has been claiming for years. Already five years ago I criticized and argued that there is no reason in the world to send an astronaut from Israel. what is this story
Before it was Saudi, did it do anything to Saudi Arabia? Was it a technological achievement for the Saudis? The Russians put Syria in space. So now we are in the good company of Saudi Arabia and Syria. We finally managed to reach this level."
One of the rejected experiments was proposed by Dr. Eric Shamis from the Sheba Medical Center in Tel Hashomer (former commander of the Air Medicine Unit). The experiment came to examine how the subgravity conditions in space affect the depletion of muscle and bone mass. "The experiment, according to the definition we received, had to fit NASA's goals," says Shamis. NASA has long been planning a manned mission to Mars, the neighboring planet, and one of the most difficult problems in the long journey will be the effect of space conditions on the astronauts' health. After a few months in space, the astronauts may land on Earth and suffer serious fractures in their weakened bones. "I think that if we were to prove our thesis, we would be able to integrate into future flights as well. We thought it would contribute to Israel's reputation - in the long run, I emphasize - more than what currently appears to be a one-time flight."
The experiment of Dr. Shamis and his colleagues was rejected on the grounds that it uses mice. But NASA has sent mice into space, including on its current flight, and will probably continue to do so, "so that can't be an argument," Shamis said.
Another experiment proposed by Dr. Amir Shmuel from the Weizmann Institute focused on brain research. Shmuel was then a student of Prof. Amiram Greenwald, one of the most respected neuroscientists in Israel. Shmuel refused to provide details about the experiment: "I am still associated with some of these organizations, such as the Air Force, and do not want to appear as if I am criticizing the security establishment without seeing the article in advance."
The MEDCS experiment is divided into two main parts: in the first, measurements will be made of the dust from the space shuttle; In the second, a research plane will fly under the shuttle into the dust storms and collect data on the dust at the same time. Tel Aviv University marketed the experiment as if it came to test the effect of dust on rain. But according to experts, this is a wrong impression, which the experimental scientists did not bother to correct.
"The experiment, by its very definition, cannot test the effect of dust on clouds, because it measures dust in cloudless air," says Prof. Rosenfeld, an expert on climate and desert dust. "To examine the effect of dust on the clouds, it should also be compared to the dust inside the clouds. The main value of the experiment is technical - improving the accuracy of the measurements made today. This task is by definition only the investment in improving the measurement methods, the first part only."
Another climate expert, who preferred to speak anonymously, also believes that the experiment is completely technical and has no potential for a breakthrough. However, according to Rosenfeld, "Indirectly, if we know how to measure the dust better, with the help of future instruments that will be placed on satellites, we will be able to better measure the clouds that develop inside the dust and outside the dust, as well as its effect on the rain. In addition, since it is done with a high separation capability, we may see things that we did not see before and today it is difficult for us to assess what they are."
How much will the experiment improve the accuracy of the measurements made today?
"It's hard for me to answer, it will actually provide us with a better interpretation, perhaps, of the measurements made with the various devices and maybe it will serve as a basis for choosing the most suitable wavelengths for designing new devices for satellites in space."
The committee for selecting the experiment consisted of three people, none of whom have the scientific qualifications necessary to judge the research proposals: the committee was chaired by Avi Har-Evan, the director of the agency and an aeronautical engineer. Its other members were, according to Har-Evan, a representative of the research and development department of the Air Force and Ramon himself.
The process was carried out in cooperation with the Ministry of Defense's Administration for Research and Development of Weapons and Technological Infrastructure (MPAAT). According to Har-Evan, the committee also consulted with expert scientists, but since he traveled to the launch site in Florida, his notes were not with him and he was unable to recall a single name.
The money and thanks to the Ministry of Defense
Where did the two million dollars for the experiment come from? Prof. Levin: "From all kinds of sources that I don't even know all of them. Everything came from the Israeli Space Agency, which transferred the money to the university." But it is impossible that a budget of this size came from the space agency: the agency, which belongs to the Ministry of Science, is a small body with few resources. Its annual budget reaches two million shekels and two people work for it: its manager, Har-Evan, and a secretary. At the last press conference held by the agency with the experimental scientists, Har-Evan refused to answer the question of funding.
The truth is that almost the entire budget came from the Ministry of Defense, reveals a long-time employee at the Ministry of Science. One of the scientists whose proposal was rejected, says that as soon as the money for the project was given by the Ministry of Defense and Fatah was entrusted as a central partner in the selection process, the matter became a "fixed tender". It was clear that the Israel Defense Forces would choose the only experiment that could have any security value. The same scientist does not rule out the involvement of the security establishment in the project, but says that the claim that the experiment was chosen because of its scientific value is a "false claim. The criterion here was not scientific excellence, it was a combination of a feasible experiment that the Ministry of Defense liked."
What does the Ministry of Defense have to do with an experiment on dust? The spokeswoman for the ministry, Rachel Nidak Ashkenazi, explains: "This is an experiment of atmospheric dust measurements that will improve the existing knowledge and fill in 'holes' in the information about atmospheric mechanisms and allow us to better understand the weather systems in the region, an understanding that has the greatest significance for the Air Force." The experiment has another goal, which is usually quite modest: it will also examine the effect of aerosols (particles in the air) on the lungs, and collect data that may help improve the photographs of the area obtained from space and airplanes. NASA, by the way, demands that the experiment be completely civilian, with no military uses.
Why is it so difficult to discover the sources of money for a national project? "For security reasons," explains Har-Evan, "it is better not to raise these issues at the moment."
The other experiment - bacteria in space
The space shuttle Columbia was supposed to launch in 2000, but its launch was repeatedly postponed. Because of the many postponements, says Prof. Levin, the head of the MAIDCS project, the experiment came to winter. The problem is that dust storms, common in summer, are quite rare in winter. As of this writing, the team has not been able to observe any dust storms.
Lt. Col. (Res.) Yitzhak Mayo, who was trained as Ramon's backup and is currently a member of the test team, said in a telephone interview from the Goddard Space Center in Washington that even if there were dust storms, the team could not notice them: "All the areas we passed through, which were planned for photography, They were covered in clouds." The team anticipated this problem, and added another experiment to MADEX, which will test a phenomenon known as "elves" - flashes of blue and green light that appear above the clouds during lightning storms. The reasons for the formation of the elves are not clear, and the experiment arouses interest even among scientists who are not involved in it. The experiment is headed by Dr. Yoav Yair from the Open University.
So the "elves" experiment, which was added by chance, thanks to the many postponements, saves the honor of Maidks?
Mayo: "We still have time. Some of the observations will be made in North West Africa, where the chances are better for a dust area undisturbed by clouds. There is added value to the eye of a person who looks and says there is dust or there is no dust. The launch was not done just for the benefit of this matter, so all in all, it is much cheaper than raising a dedicated satellite."
Israel sent two additional experiments to the shuttle: one, initiated by the "Israeli Institute of Space and Aviation Medicine". It is a virtual entity - it has no offices, no employees, no budget, but it has a manager: a doctor named Dr. Eran Shankar. According to him, the purpose of the experiment is to test a phenomenon known as "pan-spermia" - a transition of life forms between planets. One of the hypotheses is that life did not originate on Earth, but was brought here on top of meteorites from Mars, for example. In the experiment, bacteria will be exposed to the subgravity conditions in space and see if they have formed a form of thin protective layers known as biofilms. The bacteria from space will be compared to the bacteria left on Earth.
"This experiment is absurd in every possible way," says a scientist who studies the field of life formation. The experiment does not even simulate the difficulties faced by bacteria - if indeed they also exist outside the earth - in the transition between planets. Prof. Yosef Gil, who teaches a course on astrobiology at the Hebrew University, expresses himself diplomatically, but also in his words "even if they discover biofilms, it will not tell us that bacteria can move from one planet to another." According to him "the contribution of the experiment to the science of space exploration is small. But it is very important for the State of Israel to be a partner in space exploration. Launching the shuttle and returning it costs 250 million dollars, this experiment is one of eighty, so you can calculate its cost at three million dollars. Of course, this is a very expensive experience. It can be said that only the United States - not the State of Israel - can afford to spend such an amount on such an experiment. The value here will be cumulative, this experiment is a tiny thing in advancing our understanding of important questions in space. It's not absurd, it's just a very small contribution."
The second Israeli experiment in space also maintains high scientific standards: this is an experiment initiated by energetic high school students from the "Ort" Kiryat Motzkin school, in which they will test how chemical crystals grow in subgravity in space. For the glory of national pride, blue-white crystals were sent into space.
Even if MaidCS does not live up to expectations, this will fit nicely into what appears to be the beginning of a tradition of Israeli space shuttle experiments. In 1992, what was defined as "the first Israeli experiment in the space shuttle" was launched. Today many in the space circle would prefer to forget him. That experiment was also designed at Tel Aviv University, by Prof. (emeritus) Yaakov Yishai. "Wasps build their nests according to gravity," explains Yishai, "and the question was how they would build a nest in space, where gravity is very small." The experiment was not successful because the water in the tanks spilled, and the food rotted." Prof. (Emeritus) David Abir from the Technion and Tel Aviv University, formerly from the aerospace industry, was then the director of the Space Agency. According to him, the State of Israel then invested about 1.5 million dollars in the experiment. This is an extraordinary amount of government investment in individual studies in academia. According to Abir, most of the budget came from the aerospace industry.
"Even then, the justification of the experiment was to strengthen the cooperation between Israel and NASA", concludes the cosmologist Prof. Shabiv, "in the end Israel paid more than a million dollars to prove that shit also flies in space." *
