The Columbia Space Shuttle crash debris was scattered across the floor of a Florida hangar almost 20 years ago. Accident investigators are trying to understand what happened.
There were 82,000 fragments from the disaster that killed one Israeli and six U.S. astronauts found. The weight of the spaceship returned to Kennedy Space Center in shattered pieces.
The clump of paper from the flight diary of Ilan Ramon, the first Israeli to fly in space, was recovered two months after the shuttle exploded. A copy of some of the salvaged pages is going back to space with Eytan Stibbe, the first Israeli to follow in Ramon's footsteps.
The first all-private expedition to the International Space Station will feature three other private astronauts. The 10-day mission, led by commercial company Axiom Space, sees the astronauts lift off in a SpaceX Dragon to conduct experiments in the laboratory's unique microgravity environment. They are expected to arrive at the station early Saturday morning.
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For decades, that title was reserved for government space pilots and crew. The distinction has been earned by space tourists riding the likes of Blue Origin, SpaceX, and Virgin Galactic.
Someone trained and launched into space to perform commercial scientific research is a third possible description.
The difference between space tourists and private astronauts is important, according to Larry Connor, the pilot. Depending on our role, we have spent anywhere from 750 to over 1,000 hours training.
Eytan Stibbe.
Eytan Stibbe, a private astronaut, will be the second Israeli in space. Credit: Chris Gunn for Axiom Space
Ilan Ramon.
Ilan Ramon, the first Israeli astronaut, died in the Columbia Space Shuttle disaster on Feb. 1, 2003. Credit: NASA / Getty Images
The diary, along with a song written by one of Ramon's sons and artwork by his daughter, was supposed to be brought by the man about a week ago. There are pages falling out of the sky.
He still remembers the day of Feb. 1, 2003
He said that he was a good friend.
Ramon was the squadron commander when Ramon was a fighter pilot. He visited Ramon at the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston during his training, the same place where he recently received his own training for the Axiom mission.
On the day of the accident, I was at the squadron and watched all of the Israeli people and it was a very sad day.
His family has remained close to Ramon.
Firefighter teams search a Texas field for Columbia Space Shuttle debris after it disintegrated upon re-entry on Feb. 1, 2003. Credit: Bob Daemmrich / Corbis Sygma / Getty Images
It sounds like the stuff of folklore. Two months after the accident, a person with tracking skills discovered the pages, according to the Associated Press. The notebook had plunged 37 miles to Earth and survived fire, rain, and sun bleaching, lying damp in a Texas field with other debris.
The diary was not found near the town of Palestine, but 100 miles west of the county, as reported by other news reports. 18 pages is a number that is related to Jewish mysticism.
James Hartsfield said at the time that NASA returned any personal items to the astronauts families. According to the AP wire report, he refused to identify the objects out of privacy concerns.
NASA investigators examined over 82,000 shattered pieces of the Columbia Space Shuttle in a Florida hangar. Credit: NASA / Getty Images
Rona Ramon gave the paper to the police for analysis. The results of that study were published in the Journal of forensic sciences in April 2007, with several images of the items as they were found in the field and how bits of paper were matched in the lab. Most of the pages recovered were torn and washed out, some speckled with yellow fungus, but were only mildly charred around the edges.
The pile of papers was found to have survived the Shuttle's disintegration remarkably well.
There were eight sides of paper Ramon had written in space with black ink and pencil, six sides of technical notes he wrote before the mission, eight sides of personal notes written before the mission in blue ink, and a few sides of printed technical information according to the forensic analysis. Scientists used a number of techniques to restore and decipher the pages.
"... only mildly charred around the edges."
A list of topics Ramon intended to discuss during a broadcast, a mention of a card game the astronauts played in their spacesuits right before the launch, and a copy of the Kiddush, a Hebrew blessing uttered during the Sabbath over wine are among the writings contained in the diary pages.
The Israel Museum was given the pages after they were examined. Some of the documents are on display in Ramon's memory.
Ilan Ramon, the first Israeli astronaut, waves goodbye to crowds before the Columbia Space Shuttle launched in 2003. Credit: Roberto Schmidt/AFP/GettyImages
NASA doesn't know what they think about the forensic findings. The diary, its recovery, and its contents have not been made public by the agency. Kennedy Space Center didn't immediately return an information request about the diary.
The research he started two decades ago involves the observation of thunderstorms. He will carry out Jewish traditions in space. Passover, a Jewish holiday celebrating freedom from bondage in Egypt thousands of years ago, was affected by the launch delays.
We have several traditions, including drinking at least four glasses of wine.
He said that he doesn't think he needs a glass to drink wine.
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