WIKIARCHIVES.SPACE

From the VIP stands at KSC, members of
the Israeli military watch the launch of Space Shuttle Columbia on
mission STS-107. A member of the Shuttle crew is Payload Specialist
Ilan Ramon, who is a colonel in the Israel Air Force. He is the first
Israeli astronaut to fly on a Shuttle. The 16-day research mission
will include FREESTAR (Fast Reaction Experiments Enabling Science,
Technology, Applications and Research) and the SHI Research Double
Module (SHI/RDM), known as SPACEHAB. Experiments on the module range
from material sciences to life sciences. Ramon will take part in some
of the research on the mission. Landing of Columbia is scheduled at
about 8:53 a.m. EST on Saturday, Feb. 1. This mission is the first
Shuttle mission of 2003. Mission STS-107 is the 28th flight of the
orbiter Columbia and the 113th flight overall in NASA's Space Shuttle
program.