A Jewish astronaut will bring the presidential proclamation creating Jewish American Heritage Month into space.
“The timing is perfect,” Garrett Reisman said during a NASA conference call.
Reisman, 42, is a mission specialist scheduled to launch on Sunday, May 16 aboard the Atlantis space shuttle.
He said he was “one of many in a long line of Jewish Americans who have been deeply involved in the space program.”
Reisman became the first Jewish astronaut to work on the International Space Station when he spent three months there in 2008 in a mission that coincided with Israel Independence Day. He sent a videotaped anniversary greeting to Israel.
Reisman said he also plans to bring a photo of Asaf Ramon to honor both the fallen Israeli pilot and his father, Ilan, the Israeli astronaut who died in the 2003 Columbia space shuttle explosion. — jta