VIDEO: Students Remember Israeli Astronaut Killed in Columbia Shuttle Disaster
Feb. 1 marks the 9th anniversary of shuttle's disintegration that killed all seven crew members
Nine years ago today, NASA's space shuttle Columbia disintegrated over Texas killing all seven astronauts on board including the first Israeli to go into space — Ilan Ramon.
Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated Saturday, Feb. 1, 2003, just 16 minutes before its scheduled landing at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
In a tribute to the fallen Israeli astronaut, the fifth and sixth grade students at Golda Och Academy in West Orange dedicated a science experiment to Ramon, the same experiment he completed from space aboard Columbia in 2003.
The experiment was designed by a group of students in Israel and selected as the one Ramon would conduct from space without gravity.
Daphna Yizrael, youth emissary in partnership with the Jewish Agency for Israel, Legow Family Israel Program Center of MetroWest NJ and Gil Lainer, Consul for Public Affairs at the Consulate General of Israel in New York attended the event Wednesday morning.
"While his head was in space, his feet were very much on the ground, he knew exactly the uniqueness and the significance of the heritage and background to his own people ... on the other hand he was also heavily involved in the scientific community, " Lainer said.
Masked in goggles and blue latex gloves, the students gathered in groups, meticulously pouring out measurements to create blue and white colored crystal formations.
The experiment called the "Chemical Garden" mixes silicate solutions with salt to grow crystals. Science teacher Jessica Vaughan said the students will take the crystal jars home to keep.
Lilach Bluevise, Director of Israel Programing at Golda Och Academy, told Patch this is the first time the students conducted the experiment in honor of Ramon. She hopes the event will become a yearly tradition and serve as a model for other schools.
A decorated pilot in the Israeli Air Force, Ramon clung fiercely to his religion and heritage even while in space.
"We try to get Israel as much as we can into other subjects, it's not just a separate activity or program. It really is a part of our life, our values and what we do here," Bluevise said.
See video for more details.
