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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Sunday, February 02, 2003

Sharon Expresses Sorrow to Israeli Astronaut's Death

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon Saturday night expressed his sorrow to the death of Ilan Ramon, first Israeli astronaut aboard the space shuttle Columbia which broke up over Texas, the United States, earlier in the afternoon.


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Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon Saturday night expressed his sorrow to the death of Ilan Ramon, first Israeli astronaut aboard the space shuttle Columbia which broke up over Texas, the United States, earlier in the afternoon.

Sharon expressed his sorrow to Ramon's father Eliezer Wolferman.

Wolferman was quoted by local medium as saying that "we never expected this. Up until the last minute we hoped it would all go smoothly... Now we don't have Ilan (anymore). A great tragedy has befallen us."

"Even when the news broke that contact with the shuttle had beenlost, I still believed there would be a successful landing," said the sad father.

Friends and associates of Wolferman, as well as Pini Badash, mayor of local Negev town of Omer in southern Israel, flocked to Wolferman home after they heard the breaking-heart news.

The Israeli embassy in Washington dispatched a small team to Florida, to assist Ramon's wife, Rona, and their four children, according to Israeli media.

Even before the Columbia exploded, the Israel Government Coins and Medals Corporation had announced a new medal dedicated to the first Israeli astronaut.

The medal will now become a remembrance medal, spokesperson Janny Hamoi said.

The medal was designed by Israeli artist Aharon Shabo, who choseto integrate a verse from Psalms in it: "His excellency is over Israel, And his strength is in the skies."


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