[FPSPACE] Astronaut Diary Survives Columbia Accident

[LARRY KLAES]

October 6th, 2008

Astronaut Diary Survives Columbia Accident

Written by Nancy Atkinson

Pages from an astronaut's diary survived the explosion of the space shuttle 
Columbia in 2003, and on Sunday, selected pages went on display at a museum 
in Jerusalem. Israeli astronaut Ilan Ramon kept a personal diary during his 
time in orbit, and portions of it were found about two months after Columbia 
broke apart on February 1, 2003 while returning to Earth following the 
STS-107 mission.

"Today was the first day that I felt that I am truly living in space. I have 
become a man who lives and works in space," Ramon wrote in an entry on his 
sixth day in orbit.

37 pages survived the extreme heat of the explosion, as well as the 60 km 
(37-mile) fall to earth and several days of wet weather before they were 
found. "It's almost a miracle that it survived — it's incredible," Israel 
Museum curator Yigal Zalmona said. "There is no rational explanation for how 
it was recovered when most of the shuttle was not."

Full article here:

http://www.universetoday.com/2008/10/06/astronaut-diary-survives-columbia-accident/