Agreement in principle with NASA to launch a second Israeli astronaut

The issue was brought up at the initiative of Science Minister Daniel Hershkovitz and the Air Force announced that it would send two pilots to the course * Next year the shuttle flights will be suspended * Courses for astronauts in the Orion program will be opened sparingly, says the Director of the Israel Space Agency Dr. Zvi Kaplan in a conversation with the Hadaan site

A second Israeli astronaut may fly into space in the next decade. This was recently agreed between the Minister of Science Prof. Daniel Hershkowitz and the Director of the Israel Space Agency Dr. Zvi Kaplan, and senior officials at NASA. This is one joint project out of four that the Ministry and the Space Agency are requesting to advance with NASA. This is what Kaplan says in a conversation with the science website. "This is a fairly preliminary stage of entering into discussions in which it will be determined when and how an Israeli astronaut can be integrated into their plans." he explains

The initiative to launch an Israeli astronaut into space was brought up in 1996 by the then Prime Minister, Shimon Peres, and turned out so that in the end, on January 16, 2003, the shuttle Columbia was launched for the STS-107 mission with Col. Ilan Ramon on board. After a two-week stay in space, on February 1, the shuttle crashed before landing. Every year, the space conference in memory of Ilan Ramon is held in Herzliya, attended by astronauts and senior officials from NASA. This year, Dr. Peter Worden, director of NASA's Ames Center, promised: "We will integrate Israel in the planning and development of components for robotic missions to the moon". Worden was very impressed by the Israeli space industry and the research in the academy.

"Following the space conference and Worden's guest, the topic of increasing the intensity of cooperation with NASA came up. This cooperation has continued for many years, and today is mainly expressed in the NASA node at Tel Aviv University, which includes a database of climate, dust, weather data and more that is operated at Tel Aviv University and is in constant communication with NASA.

The newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported today that the Air Force has already announced that two astronauts will be selected to fly to the US to undergo training at NASA in preparation for deployment. However, it is not clear when there will be a vacancy in any astronaut course. The reason - the shuttle flights end next year. After the landing of the space shuttle Endeavor expected tomorrow afternoon (17:48 Israel time), seven more flights remain in the program - all for the purpose of completing the construction of the International Space Station. NASA will then send individual astronauts to the station to crew the space station in cooperation with the Russian Space Agency on Soyuz spacecraft.

"In the matter of the astronaut, great difficulties are expected due to NASA's situation." Kaplan explains in an interview with the Hidaan website: "For the seven remaining flights, there are already 80 astronauts who are waiting and hungry to fly, what's more, it will be impossible to complete the required training in less than a year left. It is now necessary to wait mainly for the Orion program. The station is also supposed to stop its activity after another five years, although here it is only a matter of budget and it is possible that its validity will be extended. Recently, NASA conducted an initial recruitment of nine astronauts for the Orion program. And only when they expand the program will it be possible to talk about a date."

"My belief in the spirit of what I said the other day at the science committee meeting dedicated to the Israeli space industry is that we should be inside, contrary to my position a few years ago."

Three additional projects in which, according to Kaplan, Israel is interested in participating:

• NLSI Lunar Studies Institute (Nasa Lunar Science Institute) which will include studies of the moon, planets, comets and asteroids mainly in academia. It is a concerted scientific effort to explore the moon, joined so far by Canada and South Korea.
• The participation of Israeli industry in the DISCOVERY project. As you remember, this project is a competitive project in which academic institutions and other entities compete to develop missions for the solar system (LRO is an example of the product of this project). We will propose the addition of an Israeli radar detector developed for the Taksar satellite.
• Israel joining the SBIR initiative - the initiative for enterprises and small businesses up to 100 employees.

"We are now just taking the first steps in that direction. The great achievement as a result of the space conference and the visit of the Ramat Darg delegation from NASA is that the American agency believes that the relationship with Israel has reciprocity because there are capabilities in Israel that do not fall and may even rise in niches than those that exist in the USA such as small satellites, small satellites and so on.

These issues will be raised when the first meeting between Kaplan and Charles Bolden takes place. The head of NASA who officially took office on July 15. In any case, Kaplan emphasizes that there is no progress regarding the contractual framework in all these areas.

More on:

• The interview with the late Ilan Ramon for the Hidan site
• From nine satellites in 2006 to only one satellite in 2009 - the Israeli space program is in decline (Participation records in the Knesset Science Committee)