Israel’s second astronaut, Eytan Stibbe, took off on Friday aboard the Crew Dragon Endeavour spacecraft, manufactured and operated by SpaceX, on the first private mission to the International Space Station. The spacecraft was launched from Kennedy Space Center in the US state of Florida atop a Falcon 9 rocket. Stibbe, 64, a former Israeli Air Force fighter pilot, is part of a four-member crew that also includes mission commander Michael Lopez-Alegria and Larry Connor, both Americans, and Canada’s Mark Pathy. The crew will be in space for 10 days, conducting scientific research, educational outreach, and commercial activities, according to NASA. Stibbe is conducting dozens of experiments developed by Israeli universities, institutes, medical centers, and private companies as part of the Rakia (“sky” in Hebrew) Mission, led by the Israeli Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology and the Ramon Foundation. The foundation was established in memory of Ilan Ramon, the first Israeli astronaut, who died in the Columbia Space Shuttle disaster in 2003.
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