A 40-year-old combat pilot has been chosen to become the first Israeli to travel on a NASA space shuttle mission.
The pilot, who under army regulations cannot be named, was identified as an F- 16 pilot and trained electrical engineer.
If approved by NASA, he would join the space shuttle crew on a mission next year, which also would coincide with the organization’s 50th anniversary celebrations.
The project would take place under a scientific space research agreement between Israel and the United States.
Abi Har Even, the director of Israel’s space agency, said the pilot was chosen by the air force after a rigorous selection process, and that the agency acted as an civilian intermediary with NASA.
He said the pilot would serve as the mission’s “payload specialist,” overseeing a space experiment Israel has yet to propose and finance.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
