The space shuttle Columbia with Israeli astronaut Ilan Ramon on board is expected to land at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida tomorrow at 16:15 PM Israel time. The three main Israeli television channels - 2, 1 and 10 will broadcast the landing live. Reports from the 16th day of the flight - 31/1/2006
Ramon is training as part of an experiment on muscles, yesterday in the space shuttle
The space shuttle Columbia with Israeli astronaut Ilan Ramon on board is expected to land at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida tomorrow at 16:15 PM Israel time. The three main Israeli television channels - 2, 1 and 10 will broadcast the landing live. NASA's control center in Houston, Texas, reported yesterday that the weather conditions at the landing site in Florida have improved greatly in recent days and that at the moment it seems that there will be no obstacle to landing the shuttle on the scheduled date.
A final decision on the landing will be made about an hour and a quarter before the planned landing time, based on the conditions on the ground. If a landing in Florida is not possible by Monday, the shuttle will move to land at the Edwards base in California. It is not yet known when Ramon will return to Israel.
The space shuttle is scheduled to land after 16 days in space, during which it completed about 80 scientific experiments. Ramon focused on the Israeli experiment to study dust storms, but also participated in other experiments in the fields of physics and biology. After landing, the team members, who underwent biological experiments on their bodies, are expected to immediately undergo a series of medical tests for the purpose of concluding the experiments. These are experiments aimed at examining the effects of being in space on the various body mechanisms, in order to enable a prolonged stay of astronauts on the International Space Station.
The President of the State, Moshe Katsav, received a letter from Ramon by e-mail yesterday. Ramon described what Israel looked like through the window of the Columbia shuttle: "This morning we flew over Israel," he wrote, "from space I clearly saw Jerusalem. While looking at our capital, I prayed one small prayer - 'Hear Israel'." At the end of his letter, Ramon states: "We work for the benefit of humanity. From space the whole world appears as one unit without borders. Therefore, I want to read from space - 'Let's work for peace and a better life for everyone in the world.'
