Music of Ilan Ramon

Waking up the crew of a space ship in the “morning” to the sound of music has been a NASA tradition since at least 1965 (click here). During the fatal Columbia mission a number of songs were dedicated to Ilan Ramon, including three in Hebrew. These songs are available by clicking here and scrolling down (look out for “Wake Up Calls” on the left side).

On day 4 the crew awoke to התשמע קולי (“Can You Hear My Voice), which was chosen by Ilan’s wife Rona. He heard the version by Halonot Hagevohim (click here again) and at the end of the clip you hear Mission Control wishing the crew a good morning and identifying the song for them. This is a 1960s vintage video of Josy Katz singing the song:

(For the words, click here)

For the wakeup call of day 6, Ilan chose Arik Einstein’s מה אתה עושה כשאתה קם בבוקר (“What Do You Do When You Get Up In the Morning?"); note the answer to the question in the song's title: את אותם דברים אבל לאט ("the same things, but slower") (click here for words). At the end of the clip (click here again) Mission Control wishes the crew a good morning and identifies the song, followed by Ilan’s response.

Ilan also brought with him an Arik Einstein album that the singer had mailed to him; it included מרחף בחלל (“Floating in Space”) (click here for lyrics).

Day 11: “Love of My Life,” by Queen.

Day 15: שלום לך ארץ נהדרת (“Shalom, O Wonderful Land”), by Yehoram Gaon. This singer recounts how he has been around the world and seen the greatest wonders, yet he concludes there “is no land like the Land of Israel” and proceeds to tell of its sites. The song was broadcast to wake up the crew as the shuttle passed over Israel. When the song finished playing you can hear Ilan talking to Mission Control (click here again):

Good morning, Stephanie, it was wonderful to hear your voice in Hebrew. It was perfect timing while we flew over Israel to hear this song, which says I've been to the North Pole and to everywhere but there's no place better than Israel.

For other posts on Ilan Ramon, click here.