Ilan Ramon, Israel’s first (and so far only) astronaut died in his first flight—the ill-fated final mission of the shuttle Columbia in 2003. Now, his son, who also hoped to become an astronaut, will be buried beside him.
Asaf Ramon, 21, died when his F-16 crashed during a training exercise.
In Israel, the elder Ramon is remembered [...]

The shuttle Columbia was destroyed, along with its crew, in a horrible tragedy caused by foam from the fuel tank damaging the critical heat shield tiles on the vehicle. The tile damage resulted in the spacecraft’s destruction.
Now, in today’s launch of the shuttle Discovery, a new adhesive was used to keep the foam from coming [...]

Engineers hope and expect no foam damage during the next shuttle launch.
Foam falling from the external fuel tanks has been an ongoing problem. In 2003, foam hit and damaged the protective tiles on the shuttle Columbia—destroying the spacecraft and killing the crew.
Engineers at the Marshall Space Flight Center say new adhesive should prevent foam from [...]