Ilan Ramon

Ilan Ramon
Ilan Ramon
אילן רמון
	Ramon in 2001
Born	Ilan Wolfferman; June 20, 1954; Ramat Gan, Israel
Died	February 1, 2003 (aged 48); over Texas and Louisiana, U.S.
Cause of death	Space Shuttle Columbia disaster
Alma mater	Tel Aviv University (BSc)
Awards	Congressional Space Medal of Honor; NASA Distinguished Service Medal;
	Space career
ISA astronaut
Previous occupation	Fighter pilot
Rank	Colonel, Israeli Air Force
Time in space	15d 22h 20m
Selection	1996 NASA Group
Missions	STS-107
Mission insignia

Ilan Ramon (Hebrew: אילן רמון; pronounced [(ʔ)iˈlan ʁaˈmon], born Ilan Wolfferman (אילן וולפרמן); June 20, 1954 – February 1, 2003)^[1] was an Israeli fighter pilot and later the first Israeli astronaut. He served as a Space Shuttle payload specialist on STS-107, the fatal mission of Columbia, in which he and the six other crew members were killed when the spacecraft disintegrated during re-entry. At 48, Ramon was the oldest member of the crew. He is the only foreign recipient of the United States Congressional Space Medal of Honor, which was awarded posthumously.^[2]

^ Stone, Tanya Lee (October 1, 2003). Ilan Ramon: Israel's First Astronaut. Kar-Ben Publishing. p. 10. ISBN 978-0-7613-2888-9. Retrieved May 26, 2011.
^ "On This Day: Israel's Ilan Ramon dies in Columbia space shuttle disaster". The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com. Retrieved January 21, 2023.