The remains of Ilan Ramon's diary were discovered

Scientists and members of the forensics laboratory of the Israel Police used advanced technologies to recover 18 pages written in Hebrew in the Israeli astronaut's handwriting. The pages include technical details and personal musings, as well as the wording of Shabbat Kiddush

A small pile of papers that survived the crash of the space shuttle "Columbia" was painstakingly restored by scientists and was discovered to be the flight log of Ilan Ramon, the first Israeli astronaut. CNN reported that the pile of paper survived the destruction of the ferry and the two months that followed, which were soaked in rain. The pages were discovered by an Indian tracker about two months after the crash.

The scientists used image enhancement technology to read the tattered and charred pages and glue them together. Not all of the writing has been deciphered, but Sharon Brown, a document researcher on behalf of the Israel Police, said she was amazed to learn that the humble notebook survived. "It is known what one burning match can cause a pile of papers," said Brown.

Brown, who spoke at a conference in New Orleans, did not reveal personal things written by Ramon, but said that the pages included a list of topics that Ramon planned to talk about in broadcasts from space, as well as a careful and careful copy of the Kiddush Shabbat blessing. 18 pages filled with Ilan Ramon's Hebrew handwriting have been recovered: four of them include Ramon's diary of the flight, six are technical notes from the preparations for takeoff, and another eight pages included Ramon's personal musings, written before takeoff.
In some of the pages the writing has been washed away. Other columns were torn and other columns were found to be perforated, as if particles from the shuttle wreckage had passed through them. Some columns were found as a small lump, the size of which is smaller than that of a fingernail.
Brown said that she was asked if she was not afraid that she would destroy the remains by trying to open them. "I answered that the fear is justified, but if I don't do anything, we will lose everyone," she said.
The diary is written in black pen and pencil, and covers the first six days of the mission. "We don't know if he just stopped writing, if he ran out of paper or if more pages were destroyed," Brown said.
Ramon's widow, Rona, asked the Israel Police to try and decipher the scripture. After a year and a half of work, two pages remained that Brown had not yet been able to decipher.