Israel Space Week to be launched on Sunday

Space oriented activities will run January 25th through the 29th; information regarding activities accessible through online portal.

By JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICH
Israel from space 4 (photo credit: NASA/BARRY WILMORE)
Israel from space 4
(photo credit: NASA/BARRY WILMORE)
The annual Israel Space Week – with activities for the whole family – will be held between January 25 and 29. To mark the occasion, the Science, Technology, and Space Ministry is opening the largest and most comprehensive website on Israeli activities related to space.
The website, at www.space.gov.il, is designed with a special atmosphere and provides film clips, space news, information on technologies, and central themes and ideas for home activities, the ministry said on Monday.
The website will also information on international cooperation on building satellites, academic research supported by the Israel Space Agency, scholarships, frequently-asked questions, competitions, professional meetings, training courses, and Space Week activities.
These 25 free activities will include observations of Jupiter, workshops for building satellite and space vehicle models, planetarium shows, an intergalactic light show and more. Among the guests of space week will be US National Aeronautics and Space Administration astronaut Nicole Stott and Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi.
Stott will relate the heritage of Col. Ilan Ramon, the country’s first and only astronaut, who perished in the fatal NASA Columbia shuttle. His widow, Rona, will appear in a broadcast on the website.
The central event will be held throughout space week at the planetarium at Tel Aviv’s Eretz Yisrael Museum. The public will be able to simulate astronaut missions such as coping with G forces, functioning at zero gravity, wearing astronaut overalls and building a satellite model. Participants must register in advance via the website, the ministry said. Planetariums in Givatayim, Beersheba, Taibe, Givat Olga, Yarka and Ma’aleh Adumim will also offer activities.
The finals of the “Ilan Ramon Olympics” and a space quiz will be held at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Beersheba. A special conference to be attended by foreign and local guests will be held at Israel Air Force House in Herzliya.