On the 17th anniversary of the Columbia disaster, the Air Force published an extensive section of the journal, in which Ramon describes recent preparations for the journey, launches and moments of arrival in space.

• Ilan Ramon with his son Asaf, who was killed in a plane crash (Photo courtesy of the Ramon Foundation)

Today, February 1, 2020, in the United States and Israel, commemorate 17 years of the disintegration of the Columbia Space Shuttle over Texas while returning to Earth from STS-107 mission. The disaster day was also on Saturday. Of the shuttle, including a cargo expert and the first Israeli astronaut in the late Ilan Ramon space.

To mark the event, the Air Force is publishing for the first time excerpts from Ramon's personal diary, written partly in the days before the launch and partly in space. 18 fragments Total of Colonel Ramon's diary survived the disaster, and we now bring the full section of them to its fullest.

Photo: Reuters // Narration: Ran Meidan

"Launch!

No, I couldn't believe it. Until the moment the engines were set on fire I was still doubting. Although in recent days, and especially since our stay in Cape Town, we have all felt that it is real. Still, we couldn't believe it.

The launch morning. Last bag packing, the last traditional breakfast on Earth, wearing the pressure suit, and dropping. A final wave of hands, looking up at the upright Columbia, shining, bright and ready upstairs. Successfully.

Get on the elevator, the white room, a ferry boarding pass, and tie to the chair. By eight-quarter I am ready, the guys bond one-by-one, high-tempo contact tests. Time passes and he is still worried. Technical glitches have always been. Valve does not open. Leak here, leak there. Everything else can be.

Time is creeping lazily. No more excitement. We are alone. Mike naps him in the chair. The clock reaches T-20 and stops for ten minutes. Will we go through this final section? Then: GO GO GO GO ... Everyone GO.
You are now out on the roof. Time is running fast now. Willy drives, lowers reflector, oxygen. Two minutes. Now get excited. This is going to happen!

1,2,3,4 - The vibrations are strong, what a power!

All at once we are "arrested"

We're in space!

What a launch! Everything seems so fast. We start to release straps, take off helmets, get up from the chairs. This is amazing.

Slow moving head. Everything is like a greased machine. Everyone does their job, but this time hovering. Feeling like you lose balance all the time. As if falling. There is no control over the body, but continue to function. The first few hours in space come as we do what so long and so often we have been training for in simulators.

I turn to go up and see an amazing spectacle for the first time. What a fine atmosphere.

We're in space! "

Ramon, who was an IDF fighter pilot, was selected in 1997 to be the first Israeli space pilot by the Air Force, due to the fact that he excelled at every stage of his military career, and was also a partner in the development of the Israeli aircraft "Lavi". Ramon's commemoration was very broad, with, among other things, his name being called an airport, a community settlement and high schools. Ramon's image has been engraved in the Israeli public, thanks in part to a journal he wrote while in space. The diary was discovered in Texas, a few weeks after the disaster, when it was scorched but still legible. Eight pages of it survived the blast.

According to reports, Ramon has documented his experiences since launching until the sixth day of his voyage in space. One of the pages, which was restored with the help of the Israel Police's Forensic Identification Department, was a page, on which Ramon wrote the kiddush words for Saturday night. Ramon was also important to emphasize his Israeliity in space, when he took with him on various objects representing Israeli society.