First Jewish astronaut on the ISS: Israel can lead Big Data

Ramon Foundation hosts Garrett Reisman, the first Jewish astronaut on the International Space Station, as part of Israeli Space Week event.

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Jewish-American astronaut Garrett Reisman [R] is shown here speaking in front of the late Israeli astronaut Ilan Ramon (photo credit: IDAN GROSS)
Jewish-American astronaut Garrett Reisman [R] is shown here speaking in front of the late Israeli astronaut Ilan Ramon
(photo credit: IDAN GROSS)
Jewish-American astronaut Garrett Reisman was the first Jew to serve on the International Space Station [ISS] in 2008.
He was a friend of the late Israeli astronaut Ilan Ramon, who perished in 2003 when the space shuttle Columbia did not withstand the pressures of re-entering the Earth’s atmosphere, and used his own mission to send greetings to the people of Israel on the country’s Independence Day.
 
Reisman visited Israel recently and gave a talk on Wednesday regarding the potential he believes Israel has in the fields of Big Data and space-technology.
 
“Every time Israelis do something innovative in space,” he said, “it proves to be a great success,” a press release on behalf of the NGO StartUp Nation Central [SNC] reported.
This was a joint event of StartUp Nation Central, Ramon Foundation, Israel Space Agency (ISA) and the Ministry of Science, Technology and Space.
 
Held in the offices of SNC in Tel Aviv, the talk was part of a panel in which Israeli firms such as New Rocket and SpacePharma showcased their upcoming projects as part of Israel’s Space Week.
 
Ramon Foundation head Ran Livne said that his foundation was created “to do what Ilan Ramon would have done had he returned from space [alive]. I have no doubt that had he been with us today, he would have promoted Israel’s industry.”
 
He mentioned that the next generation of spacesuits to be used by NASA is designed by the Israeli firm Stemrad, and that there are “many opportunities for Israeli space investors and entrepreneurs.”