Israeli Up In Space

Many sighs of relief and excitement were emitted this afternoon when the Columbia space shuttle took off at 5:39 PM Israel time. The spaceship took the first Israeli astronaut into space, Col. Ilan Ramon. Eight and a half minutes later, it entered its orbit around Earth, which it will circle 16 times a day at some 29,000 kilometers an hour. Ramon and his seven colleagues will remain in space fo

Jan 16, 2003, 8:07 PM (GMT+2)

Many sighs of relief and excitement were emitted this afternoon when the Columbia space shuttle took off at 5:39 PM Israel time. The spaceship took the first Israeli astronaut into space, Col. Ilan Ramon. Eight and a half minutes later, it entered its orbit around Earth, which it will circle 16 times a day at some 29,000 kilometers an hour. Ramon and his seven colleagues will remain in space for 16 days.