Rona Ramon at the Ilan Ramon International Space Conference: "Ten years later, I'm proud"

The words were said at the opening session of the Ilan Ramon International Space Conference of the Israel Space Agency at the Ministry of Science and the Fisher Institute. The conference marks the tenth anniversary of the "Columbia" ferry disaster.

Today, January 29, the Ilan Ramon International Space Conference of the Israel Space Agency opens at the Ministry of Science and the Fisher Institute. Speaking at the opening of the event were: Brigadier General Assaf Agmon, head of the Fisher Institute, Minister of Science and Technology Daniel Hershkowitz, Director General of the Ministry of Science and Technology Menachem Greenblum, NASA head Charles Bolden, Rona Ramon, and Eitan Ben-Eliyahu.

The Minister of Science and Technology, Prof. Daniel Hershkowitz, said at the conference: "We are happy to be honored this year with a record number of 14 senior representatives from the world's space agencies, as well as from the United Nations, the European Commission, as well as astronauts from NASA, Japan, Russia and Kazakhstan. The space sector promotes international cooperation and there is almost no space project that is not shared by several countries. Space exploration is for the welfare of humanity - it gives a boost to scientific research in the fields of ICT and information, ecology, agriculture and more. The State of Israel began to implement the national space program and in the last year the annual budget of the Israel Space Agency in the Ministry of Science has increased 20 times. At the end of my position I have tremendous satisfaction from the privilege of contributing to the development of science and technology in Israel, developing science relations and the export of Israeli science. Meanwhile, the collaboration with Rona Ramon, which is an institution in itself, is an important and inspiring part for all of us."

Rona Ramon said at the conference, "Ten years have passed and on the way here I was asked "how am I doing" and for ten years this question has been a complex and not a simple question. Today I can say that I am proud. Ten years after the number is round, after upheavals in our private lives, I can say that this morning and the whole week I am proud. I was also asked today what Ilan's legacy is, and the first thing that came to my mind was his smile - in my opinion, he is the greatest legacy. Ten years later, I am proud because together with our partners we feel influence, education and heritage. I am most proud of the changes we manage to create in the youth and children in the projects of the foundation and the ministry. At home, too, we are proud of the path and coping and want to project and continue to the entire Israeli society. The list of things we need to do in life also includes writing a book. In the last ten years I managed to publish two unique books that speak the language of Ilan and Assaf. And a word about the Minister of Science and Technology Daniel Hershkowitz and CEO Menachem Greenblum - I went through many ministers in the ten years, but it was a pleasure to work with these two wonderful people and there are no words for the way and the support, this friendship will continue. Politics can look different with you on the map." Rona gave the Minister and the CEO the copy of the diary that survived from space and said, "For me, the book is proof that miracles can happen."

The CEO of the Ministry of Science and Technology, Menachem Greenblum, said at the conference, that "Ilan Ramon, in his life and in his death, became a symbol for all of us, he was a trailblazer and taught us all not to be afraid to dream big dreams. Ilan proved in his personality and actions that the values ​​that guide him are leadership, love of country and contribution to the community.
NASA head Charles Bolden said at the conference, "The crew of the "Columbia" brought us peace and wholeness even if they were not with us physically. In the last week I met many young people in Israel and I see Ilan Ramon in their faces, with enthusiasm and determination to follow his path. They spoke of hope and peace and wholeness. In this part of the world that needs to be remembered that there is hope, I saw hope in their faces."
The head of NASA added that "I find it hard to believe that a decade has already passed since the Columbia disaster, but we continue to work hard to complete the mission of the members who paid with their lives. As someone who lost friends in two missions that were not completed, I can say that the loss cannot be returned, but it is possible to continue on their way and never stop exploring space and discovering the unknown."

"The world that Ilan and the team saw from space is a world without borders and conflicts. He must have thought - why can't more be done to bring peace, to work together for humanity, as he did on the "Columbia" and as is done today on the International Space Station. Ramon was a great researcher and a great person."

At the panel in memory of Ilan Ramon, Sean O'Keefe, who was the head of NASA at the time of the disaster, said, "It is very difficult to know if we have learned the lessons from the shuttle disaster. It's the idea of ​​research and space travel, learning the things you didn't know before and discovering new ones. Every new step of man into the unknown is marked by great victories as well as tragedies. We learned about our limitations, about the challenges of knowledge and discovery, we learned to re-examine everything we understood about the world around us. There were a lot of things we failed to do properly. The risks are always huge in such missions and so are the lessons learned. We see in every task that the technology is stretched to its limit and there is a lot to learn."
"My vision of human space travel is similar to all of us. We have curiosity and a tireless desire to discover new worlds and the unknown. We need to fulfill these needs and go for it. We researched and learned from the mistakes from the Columbia mission. We have a human need to discover and we have to follow it."

Maj. Gen. Eitan Ben Eliyahu, former commander of the Air Force, said, "I worked with Ilan personally for a year and a half before the mission and we were in close contact during his stay there and I insisted that he not return to Israel even when there were constant rejections. We were afraid that if he returned to Israel then the whole business would be cancelled. I have no doubt that he was the most suitable person professionally and also in terms of the inspiration he radiated to everyone. Ilan took a number of items with him to the space and he also invited me to choose one item. I chose the flight wings that I have worn since the end of the course and two pictures of my children that I cast in plexiglass. He took it to space, and after a few months, Rona invited me to a meeting and told me that among all the fragments, a number of things were found, including the objects you sent into space, and she returned it to me."