haifa (ynetnews.com) | Miri Chen, of Haifa, watched this week’s NASA launch of the space shuttle Discovery with great concerns. She is in love with of the astronauts onboard, 48-year-old Steve Robinson.
Robinson and Chen met last year in Israel, and a love connection developed between them. But Robinson was forced to return to the United States. Since then the couple has exchanged long phone calls and letters.
The romance began when Chen, a choreographer, directed a welcoming ceremony for the families of the astronauts killed in the Columbia disaster. The ceremony took place in Israel.
NASA sent two astronauts to the ceremony, one of whom was Robinson.
“The day after the ceremony I took the astronauts for a trip around the ancient cities of Akko and Haifa,” Chen recounted a few hours before blast-off. “By the evening, Steve already had asked me to accompany him to a dinner with Rona Ramon, wife of Ilan Ramon, the Israeli astronaut who perished with six American crewmates on Columbia.
“We tried to spend as much time as possible,” said Chen. After an experience-packed week, Robinson returned to the United States. “We’re always writing to each other and talk on the phone,” said Chen. “Steve sent a picture of himself by the spaceship and promised that the minute he returns, we will see each other.”