Photographs from the video camera of the Israeli experiment MEIDEX on board the shuttle Columbia, provide rare information about the effect of fires in Brazil on the global climate.
Photographs from the video camera of the Israeli experiment MEIDEX on board the shuttle Columbia, provide rare information about the effect of fires in Brazil on the global climate.
The images show plumes of smoke rising above rainforest fires on a cloudy day in the Amazon basin. Israeli scientist Yehoyachin Yosef said that the photos demonstrate the theory that the smoke causes clouds to disperse in its path and allows more sunlight to penetrate.
"All in all, we made one pass over the jungle and we managed to obtain approval for the theories that appear in the textbooks," Yosef said in interviews with the news agencies.
The photo is one of several hundreds taken by the Israeli cameras during the 16-day flight of the shuttle Columbia, a flight dedicated entirely to science. The flight is supposed to end on Saturday.
Over eighty experiments are now about to be completed by the seven-member team, which includes the first Israeli astronaut, Col. Ilan Ramon.
Yosef says that the images from the rain forest will help the research conducted by the Brazilian government and NASA on the ripple effect of forest fires on the atmosphere. "Fires happen all the time somewhere on Earth - especially in low latitudes and if the clouds absorb smoke all the time, this factor must be taken into account when trying to build a climate model as well as calculate the effect of the greenhouse effect on the atmosphere more precisely, Yosef said.
Yosef and the other scientists participating in the experiments conducted on the shuttle defined the mission as successful. For example, an experiment in which they tried to see how car emissions could be reduced managed to set a world record for creating flames in the absence of gravity. An experiment on prostate cancer also succeeded in producing a huge tumor (outside the body of course) so that the scientists could learn about his tumor and try to remove it from its tumor cell so that such a tumor could be removed without breaking it apart.
The Israeli cameras also managed to capture the first images from space of atmospheric phenomena known as sprites.
The ferry is scheduled to land on Saturday at 9:15 a.m. EST in Florida, 16:15 p.m. Israel time.
The weather in the area of the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, where Columbia will land, is expected to be good. Only a sudden change for the worse could delay the landing. NASA has prepared for such a possibility - the shuttle is equipped with fuel, oxygen and supplies for two more days in space, and even then there are alternative landing sites in California and Spain.
Yesterday evening, all seven crew members conducted a long interview with the media, broadcast live from the shuttle. On the wall behind them the flags of the United States and Israel were discovered and the astronauts told what was the most exciting moment for each of them during the space flight.
"I had two moments of great excitement," answered Ramon. "One - when we flew over Jerusalem, it was great. From space Israel was seen as it is, very small and very beautiful. The silence that prevails here in space only increased this intensity, and I hope that one day this silence will reach my country from here. And the second moment of excitement is this very moment, when you are interviewing me, the first Israeli astronaut in space, when here behind me hangs a big flag of my country."
"Did you hear the election results in Israel?" Ramon asked. "Yes, make sure to send me the results", he answered. "I wish success to Prime Minister Sharon and all the best to all parties. Our country, like yours, is a democracy. Sometimes we win and sometimes we lose."
One of the journalists asked Ramon if he was able to make Kiddush in space on Friday. Ramon Hanvuch replied: "In space you lose track of the number of days. Maybe tomorrow (today - Friday) I will do something". Ramon said that he made sure to eat kosher food every day. "My friends here joined me - and asked for more."
After landing, the astronauts will undergo long physical tests. Nine hours after arriving on Earth, Ramon will meet the journalists again, this time on solid ground.
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Ramon: "The experience of space is worth giving up the democratic right"
By Natan Gutman, reporter for "Haaretz" in the USA
Washington. The first Israeli astronaut, Col. Ilan Ramon, expressed regret yesterday that he did not get to vote in the Israeli elections, but noted that "the experience of being in space is worth giving up the democratic right."
In an interview with Channel 10 news in the USA, Ramon said that he was updated on the results of the Israeli elections from the personal doctor accompanying him from the Houston space center.
Ramon, who is scheduled to land at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida this weekend, said that he is already thinking about his next space flight and expressed hope that there will be no delays in landing. "I miss my beloved and the children very much," he said, adding that during his flight in space he spoke twice with his family members through a video call from the shuttle. He also said: "I miss a healthy shower, but more than that I miss contact with people."
On Tuesday, the seven members of the crew of the space shuttle Columbia observed a moment of silence to mark the anniversary of the crash of the space shuttle Challenger. After a week in which Ramon and his colleagues failed to locate dust storms in order to carry out the Israeli experiment "Midex", this week a dust storm was found over the Atlantic Ocean, so the Israeli experiment was carried out in full. Ramon expressed satisfaction that the experiment could be carried out and excitement that the discovery of the dust storm happened during his shift.
In an interview, Ilan Ramon stated that he was able to see Israel from space and said that "it looks so peaceful and calm from above." He said that he was once again unable to mark the beginning of Shabbat, due to the difficulty in keeping track of the passing days and expressed hope that he would do so on the next Shabbat evening.
