The Talmud tells us that “God roams over 18,000 worlds,” and commentators speculate that He roams because there is life out there. But are there Jews?

 
 
 
Members of the International Kiddush Club should be proud to know that the IKC is on the way to the planet Mars!
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The IKC list of Jewish Cosmonauts and Astronauts! from the Soviet Union, USA, Israel & Canada
	Boris Volynov was assigned as one of two possible commanders training for Voskhod 1 in 1964, but he and his fellow crewmembers Georgi Katys and Boris Yegorov were dumped three days before the scheduled launch date despite being the prime crew. This was due to the State Commission discovering that Volynov's mother was Jewish; Sergey Korolyov, the head of the USSR space program, was reportedly furious about this decision, but was told by Nikita Khrushchev "Don't rock the boat - it's not worth it! Volynov became the first Jew to travel in space when he was the commander of Soyuz 5 in January 1969. Soyuz 5 was launched on 15 January 1969, crewed by Volynov, Aleksei Yeliseyev, and Yevgeni Khrunov. On 16 January Yeliseyev and Khrunov transferred to Soyuz 4, crewed by Commander Vladimir Shatalov, following an orbital rendezvous and docking. Soyuz 4 undocked from Soyuz 5 the following day and Volynov prepared for a solo re-entry. Soyuz 5's equipment module failed to separate properly following retrofire due to the misfiring of explosive bolts, and consequently blocked the re-entry heat shield on the base of the descent module. As a result of the added mass of the equipment module, Volynov lost control of Soyuz 5 which began to tumble, finally stabilizing itself with the thinnest part of the spacecraft facing forward. As the assembly entered the atmosphere, the stress and heat on the supporting struts between the modules finally made them burn through and part, allowing the equipment module to fall away and burn up on re-entry. Volynov could only wait while the descent module's automatic orientation system tried to regain control, which fortunately it managed to do with the heat shield facing forward. Following re-entry, the module's parachutes deployed only partially, and a failure of the soft-landing retrorockets in the base of the descent module caused a hard landing which almost wrecked the module, and broke some of Volynov's teeth. Volynov was subsequently awarded the Hero of the Soviet Union on January 22, 1969, and the Order of Lenin. On 6 July 1976 Volynov and Flight Engineer Vitaliy Zholobov were launched on board Soyuz 21 to spend 18 days aboard the space station Salyut 5. Following a deterioration in the health of Zholobov, who was making his first spaceflight, the decision was made to return the crew at the earliest available opportunity and they boarded their Soyuz on 24 August. However, as Volynov tried to undock from Salyut, the latch failed to release properly. As he fired the jets to move the spacecraft away, the docking mechanism jammed, resulting in the Soyuz being undocked but still linked to Salyut. As the two spacecraft moved out of range of ground communications, only the first set of emergency procedures was received. Volynov tried a second time to undock but managed only to slightly loosen the latches. This situation persisted for an entire orbit (90 minutes), then the final set of emergency procedures were received and the latches finally disengaged. Because Soyuz 21 was returning early, it was outside the normal recovery window, and encountered strong winds as it descended, which caused uneven firing of the retrorockets. It made a hard landing around midnight 200 km southwest of Kokchetav, Kazakhstan. Zholobov's illness was apparently caused by nitric acid fumes leaking from the Salyut's propellant tanks. However, other reports indicate that the crew failed to properly follow their physical exercise program and suffered from lack of sleep. After resigning from the space programme in 1982, he spent eight years as a senior administrator at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre. After 30 years of service in Star City he retired. The story of Volynov’s history in space, and thus his claim to fame, is unfortunately little-known today because it was kept secret until the fall of the USSR. Volynov himself rarely told the story of his space adventures either. In 2006, he visited the Kennedy Space Center in Florida for the first time to tell his stories. The photo to the left is a section of this photo, with his friend, Yuri Gagarin (not Jewish - but the first man to survive a trip into space)
	Judith Resnick was the first American Jewish astronaut she flew on the 12th shuttle mission in 1984 and later died in the Challenger. Resnik was the second American woman astronaut, logging 145 hours in orbit. She was a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University and had a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from the University of Maryland. The IEEE Judith Resnik Award for space engineering is named in her honor. Resnik was recruited into the astronaut program January 1978 by actress Nichelle Nichols, who was working as a recruiter for NASA. Resnik's first space flight was as a mission specialist on the maiden voyage of Discovery, from August to September 1984. She was likewise a mission specialist aboard Challenger for STS-51-L. Resnik was the first American Jewish astronaut to go into space, the first Jewish woman, and only the second Jew to go to space (after Boris Volynov of the Soviet Union, above). For people accustomed to seeing images of astronauts in space, Dr. Resnik's first space mission still caused some notoriety. Not only was she one of the first women in space, but in weightlessness, she displayed a halo of flowing locks, a startling sight to many viewers who were accustomed to seeing closely cropped men. During the flight, she was acclaimed for her weightless acrobatics and a playful sense of humor, once holding a sign reading "Hi Dad" up to the camera, and displaying a sticker on her flight locker that advertised her crush on actor Tom Selleck. Following the Challenger disaster, examination of the recovered vehicle cockpit revealed that three of the crew Personal Egress Air Packs were activated: those of Resnik, mission specialist Ellison Onizuka, and pilot Michael J. Smith. The location of Smith's activation switch, on the back side of his seat, means that either Resnik or Onizuka could have activated it for him. This is the only evidence available from the disaster that shows Onizuka and Resnik were alive after the cockpit separated from the vehicle. However, if the cabin had lost pressure, the packs alone would not have sustained the crew during the two minute descent. Since her death, Resnik has been awarded many posthumous honors. Numerous public buildings and facilities have been named after her, mostly schools and educational facilities, including a dormitory at her alma mater, Carnegie Mellon, and the main engineering lecture hall at the University of Maryland. The IEEE Judith A. Resnik Award was established in 1986 by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and is presented annually to an individual or team in recognition of outstanding contributions to space engineering in areas of relevance to the IEEE. She was also honored by the naming of lunar crater Resnik, located within the Apollo impact basin on the far side of the Moon. Resnik has been portrayed in numerous works of nonfiction and fiction, including the 1990 made for TV movie Challenger in which Julie Fulton portrayed her. On February 23, 2010 she was named one of ten finalists to represent Ohio in the National Statuary Hall in the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. Resnik has many streets, schools, community centers, and other structures named for her in numerous locations.
	Jeffrey A. Hoffman made five flights as a space shuttle astronaut, including the first mission to repair the Hubble Space Telescope in 1993, when the orbiting telescope's flawed optical system was corrected. Trained as an astrophysicist, he also flew on 1990 Spacelab shuttle mission that featured the ASTRO-1 ultraviolet astronomical observatory in the shuttle's payload bay. Over the course of his five missions he logged more than 1,211 hours and 21.5 million miles in space. He was also the first American Jewish man in space. Hoffman left the astronaut program in July 1997 to become NASA's European Representative in Paris, where he served until August 2001. His principle duties were to keep NASA and NASA’s European partners informed about each other’s activities, try to resolve problems in US-European cooperative space projects, search for new areas of US-European space cooperation, and represent NASA in European media. In August 2001, Dr. Hoffman was seconded by NASA to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he is a Professor in the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics. He is engaged in several research projects using the International Space Station and teaches courses on space operations and design. DR. Jeffery Hoffmann took a mezuzah with him on flight STS-51-D of the shuttle "Discovery" from 12-19.4.1985. the mezuzah flew approximately 7,000,000 miles. Dr. Hoffman affixed the mezuzah to the entrance of The Bloomfield Science Museum Jerusalem on 21.3.1993 STS-51-D (April 12, 1985), STS-35 (December 2, 1990), STS-46 (July 31, 1992), STS-61 (December 2, 1993), STS-75 (February 22, 1996)
	Ellen Louise Shulman Baker , M.D., M.P.H. (born April 27, 1953) is an American physician and a NASA astronaut. Baker serves as Chief of the Education/Medical Branch of the NASA Astronaut Office and has logged over 686 hours in space. In 1981, following her parents, Baker joined NASA as a medical officer at the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center. That same year, she graduated from the Air Force Aerospace Medicine Course at Brooks Air Force Base, San Antonio, Texas. Prior to her selection as an astronaut candidate she served as a physician in the Flight Medicine Clinic at the Johnson Space Center. Selected by NASA in May 1984, Baker became an astronaut in June 1985. Since then, she has had a variety of jobs at NASA in support of the Space Shuttle program and Space Station development. She was a mission specialist on STS-34 in 1989, STS-50 in 1992, and STS-71 in 1995 and has logged over 686 hours in space. She is Chief of the Astronaut Office Education/Medical Branch.STS-34 (October 18, 1989), STS-50 (June 25, 1992), STS-71 (June 27, 1995)
	Marsha Sue Ivins born in Baltimore, Maryland, earned a degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 1973 and went to work for NASA's Johnson Space Center. Ms. Ivins has been employed at the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center since July 1974, and until 1980, was assigned as an engineer, Crew Station Design Branch, working on Orbiter Displays and Controls and Man Machine Engineering. Her major assignment in 1978 was to participate in development of the Orbiter Head-Up Display (HUD). In 1980 she was assigned as a flight engineer on the Shuttle Training Aircraft (Aircraft Operations) and a co-pilot in the NASA administrative aircraft (Gulfstream-1). Ms. Ivins holds a multi-engine Airline Transport Pilot License with Gulfstream-1 type rating, single engine airplane, land, sea, and glider commercial licenses, and airplane, instrument, and glider flight instructor ratings. She has logged over 5,700 hours in civilian and NASA aircraft. Ms. Ivins was selected in the NASA Astronaut Class of 1984 as a mission specialist. Her technical assignments to date include: crew support for Orbiter launch and landing operations; review of Orbiter safety and reliability issues; avionics upgrades to the Orbiter cockpit; software verification in the Shuttle Avionics Integration Laboratory (SAIL); Capsule Communicator (CAPCOM) in Mission Control; crew representative for Orbiter photographic system and procedures; crew representative for Orbiter flight crew equipment issues; Lead of Astronaut Support Personnel team at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, supporting Space Shuttle launches and landings. STS-32 (January 9, 1990), STS-46 (July 31, 1992), STS-62 (March 4, 1994), STS-81 (January 12, 1997), STS-98 (February 7, 2001)
	Jerome III "Jay" Apt, Ph.D. born in Massachusetts, is an American astronaut and professor at Carnegie Mellon University. Before he became an astronaut, Apt was a physicist who worked on the Venus space probe project, and used visible light and infrared techniques to study the planets and moons of the solar system from ground-based observatories. In 1991, Apt flew aboard shuttle Atlantis where he made two spacewalks, where, along with Jerry Ross, he manually deployed the Gamma Ray Observatory's radio antenna when it failed to do so automatically; on the next day their second spacewalk tested hardware later used on the International Space Station. In 1992, he flew aboard shuttle Endeavour as the flight engineer, and commander of one of the two shifts in this round-the-clock mission. In 1994, Apt was again a shift commander of the first Space Radar Laboratory mission. This lab studied the Earth. In 1996, Apt flew aboard shuttle Atlantis and visited the Russian Mir space station. He is the author of the book Orbit: NASA Astronauts Photograph the Earth, published by the National Geographic Society, as well as of a large number of technical scientific publications. He received the NASA Distinguished Service Medal in 1997 and the Metcalf Lifetime Achievement Award for significant contributions to engineering in 2002. His paper with PhD student Adam Newcomer, "Near term implications of a ban on new coal-fired power plants in the US" was cited as one of the top environmental policy papers of 2009 by the American Chemical Society. STS-58 (October 18, 1993), STS-86/89 (September 25, 1997), STS-112 (October 7, 2002), STS-127 (July 15, 2009)
	David Alexander Wolf (born 23 August 1956) is an American astronaut, medical doctor, electrical engineer. Wolf has been to space four times. Three of his spaceflights were short-duration Space Shuttle missions, the first of which was STS-58 in 1993, and his most recent spaceflight was STS-127 in 2009. Wolf also took part in a long-duration mission aboard the Russian space station Mir which lasted 128 days, and occurred during Mir EO-24. He was brought to Mir aboard STS-86 in September 1997, and landed aboard STS-89 in January 1998. In total Wolf has logged more than 4,040 hours in space. He is also a veteran of 7 spacewalks totaling 41hrs 17min in both Russian and American spacesuits. STS-58 (October 18, 1993), STS-86/89 (September 25, 1997), STS-112 (October 7, 2002), STS-127 (July 15, 2009)
	Martin Joseph Fettman (B.S., D.V.M., M.S., Ph.D., Diplomate, ACVP) is an American pathologist and researcher who flew on NASA Space Shuttle mission STS-58 aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia as a Payload Specialist. Fettman's first faculty appointment was 1982-1986 in the Department of Pathology of the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at Colorado State University, as an Assistant Professor of Clinical Pathology whose duties included teaching, research, and clinical service. From 1983 to the present, he has held a joint appointment in the Department of Physiology at Colorado State University and his research and teaching interests have focused on selected aspects of the Pathophysiology of nutritional and metabolic diseases, with emphasis on the physiological biochemistry of energy, electrolyte, and fluid metabolism. In 1986 he was promoted to Associate Professor, and in 1988 assumed the duties of section chief of Clinical Pathology in the Veterinary Teaching Hospital at Colorado State University. Fettman spent one year (1989–1990) on sabbatical leave as a Visiting Professor of Medicine at The Queen Elizabeth Hospital and the University of Adelaide, South Australia, where he worked with the Gastroenterology Unit studying the biochemical epidemiology of human colorectal cancer. He was appointed to the Mark L. Morris Chair in Clinical Nutrition at Colorado State University and received a joint appointment in the Department of Clinical Sciences in 1991, and was promoted to Full Professor of Pathology in 1992. Fettman is a George H. Glover distinguished faculty member of the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences and was named the 1994 Sigma Xi honored scientist at Colorado State University, the 1994 Spencer T. and Ann W. Olin Lecturer at Cornell University, and a Bard College Distinguished Scientist for 1995. Fettman was selected as a NASA payload specialist candidate in December 1991, as the prime payload specialist for Spacelab Life Sciences-2 in October 1992. He then flew on STS-58 in October 1993. Since the flight, he has made over seventy public appearances representing space life sciences research before higher education, medical, veterinary, and lay organizations, and visited over twenty K-12 schools around the United States and Canada. He is presently a member of the NASA Advisory Council Life and Biomedical Sciences and Applications Advisory Subcommittee. He has published over 100 research articles in refereed scientific journals.
	John Mace Grunsfeld (born October 10, 1958) is an American physicist and a NASA astronaut. He is a veteran of five spaceflights and has also served as NASA Chief Scientist. Grunsfeld graduated from Highland Park High School in Highland Park, Illinois in 1976. He went on to attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, earning a Bachelor of Science in physics in 1980. He then attended the University of Chicago, earning a Master of Science in physics in 1984 and a Doctor of Philosophy in physics in 1988. Grunsfeld was selected by NASA in March 1992 as an astronaut candidate and reported to the Johnson Space Center in August 1992. He completed one year of training and qualified for flight selection as a mission specialist. Grunsfeld was initially detailed to the Astronaut Office Mission Development Branch and was assigned as the lead for portable computers for use in space. Following his first flight, he led a team of engineers and computer programmers tasked with defining and producing the crew displays for command and control of the International Space Station (ISS). As part of this activity he directed an effort combining the resources of the Mission Control Center (MCC) Display Team and the Space Station Training Facility. The result was the creation of the Common Display Development Facility (CDDF), responsible for the onboard and MCC displays for the International Space Station, using object-oriented programming techniques. Following his second flight, he was assigned as Chief of the Computer Support Branch in the Astronaut Office supporting Space Shuttle and International Space Station Programs and advanced technology development. Following STS-103, he served as Chief of the Extravehicular Activity Branch in the Astronaut Office. Following STS-109, Grunsfeld served as an instructor in the Extravehicular Activity Branch, and worked on the Orbital Space Plane, exploration concepts, and technologies for use beyond low earth orbit in the Advanced Programs Branch. He served as NASA Chief Scientist assigned to NASA Headquarters from 2003 to 2004. In December 2011, he was appointed associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA's headquarters in Washington, replacing Ed Weiler. Grunsfeld appeared on the PBS NOVA episode "Deadly Ascent", which showed him climbing Mount McKinley, the highest peak in North America, in June 2000. Grunsfeld, along with Dr. Howard Donner, (a consultant to NASA) conducted research into the effects of body temperature at high altitudes by using internal thermometers swallowed in pill form. He was able to climb to an altitude of 17,200 feet before acute altitude sickness forced him to turn back. In June 2004, Grunsfeld returned to McKinley while on vacation from NASA and successfully led a team that summitted. He is the only astronaut to have climbed all the way to the top of Mount McKinley.STS-67 (March 2, 1995), STS-81 (January 12, 1997), STS-103 (December 19, 1999), STS-109 (March 1, 2002), STS-125 (May 11, 2009)
	Scott Jay "Doc" Horowitz (born March 24, 1957) is a retired American astronaut and a veteran of four space shuttle missions. After earning his undergraduate degree in engineering from California State University, Northridge in 1974-1978, Horowitz earned a doctorate in aerospace engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology (1982) and worked as a scientist for Lockheed Company. He joined the United States Air Force and flew as a T-38 and F-15 pilot while also teaching courses in aircraft design and propulsion at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and later California State University, Fresno. He graduated from the United States Air Force Test Pilot School in Dec, 1990 as a member of class 90-A. Horowitz was selected as an astronaut candidate by NASA in 1992, and piloted missions STS-75 (1996), STS-82 (1997) and STS-101 (2000). He commanded mission STS-105, a visit to the International Space Station for equipment and crew transfer. Horowitz has been active in advocating reorienting NASA's focus to human exploration of Mars, with the goals of permanent human outposts and settlements on the red planet. Horowitz is a member of the steering committee of the Mars Society. On one of his space shuttle flights as commander, he had the Mars Society's Martian flag hoisted up a mast out of the space shuttle payload bay, and flew the shuttle under the flag of Mars. He later presented the Martian flag that had flown above the space shuttle to Robert Zubrin at a conference of the Mars Society. STS-75 (February 22, 1996), STS-82 (February 11, 1997), STS-101 (May 19, 2000), STS-105 (August 10, 2001)
	Mark Lewis Polansky (born June 2, 1956 in Paterson, New Jersey) is an American aerospace engineer and research pilot and a NASA astronaut. Polansky received an Air Force commission upon graduation from Purdue University in 1978. He earned his pilot wings in January 1980 at Vance AFB, Oklahoma. From 1980 to 1983, he was assigned to Langley AFB, Virginia, where he flew the F-15 aircraft. In 1983, Polansky transitioned to the F-5E aircraft and served as an Aggressor Pilot, where he trained tactical aircrews to defeat enemy aircraft tactics. He was assigned in this capacity to Clark Air Base, Republic of the Philippines, and Nellis AFB, Nevada, until he was selected to attend USAF Test Pilot School, Edwards AFB, California, in 1986. Upon graduation, he was assigned to Eglin AFB, Florida, where he conducted weapons and systems testing in the F-15, F-15E, and A-10 aircraft. Polansky left active duty in 1992 to pursue a career at NASA. He has logged over 5,000 flight hours in over 30 different aircraft. Selected by NASA in April 1996, Polansky reported to the Johnson Space Center in August 1996. Having completed two years of training and evaluation, he was initially assigned as a member of the Astronaut Support Personnel team at the Kennedy Space Center, supporting Space Shuttle launches and landings. He served as pilot on STS-98 (2001) and has logged over 309 hours in space. He was next assigned as a CAPCOM. Polansky was Chief of the CAPCOM Branch from April 2002 to December 2002. He served as Chief Instructor Astronaut from April 2003 to January 2004. He has also served as Chief of the Return to Flight and Orbiter Repair Branches. Polansky's last shuttle flight was in the position of "Commander" on Mission STS-127, an assembly flight to the International Space Station. STS-98 (February 7, 2001), STS-116 (December 9, 2006), STS-127 (July 15, 2009)
	Ilan Ramon (June 20, 1954 – February 1, 2003; born Ilan Wolferman) was a fighter pilot in the Israeli Air Force, and later the first Israeli astronaut. His mother and grandmother were survivors of the Auschwitz concentration camp. Although considered a secular Jew, Ramon reportedly sought to follow Jewish observances while in orbit. In an interview he said, "I feel I am representing all Jews and all Israelis." He was the first spaceflight participant to request kosher food. He reportedly sought advice from a Chabad Lubavitch rabbi, Zvi Konikov, about how to observe the Jewish Sabbath in space, as the period between sunrises in orbit is approximately 90 minutes. This was referenced by the words "Jerusalem we have a problem" in Rabbi Konikov's speech at the Kennedy Space Center Memorial for Columbia on February 7, 2003. Ramon was the space shuttle payload specialist of STS-107, the fatal mission of Columbia, in which he and six other crew members were killed in the re-entry accident. Ramon is the only foreign recipient of the United States Congressional Space Medal of Honor. Ilan Ramon was a Colonel (Aluf Mishne) and fighter pilot in the Israeli Air Force, with thousands of hours flying experience. In 1974, he graduated as a fighter pilot from the Israel Air Force (IAF) Flight School. From 1974–76 he participated in A-4 Basic Training and Operations. 1976–80 was spent in Mirage III-C training and operations. In 1980, as one of the IAF's establishment team of the first F-16 Squadron in Israel, he attended the F-16 Training Course at Hill Air Force Base, Utah. From 1981–83, he served as the Deputy Squadron Commander B, F-16 Squadron. In 1981 he was the youngest pilot taking part in Operation Opera, Israel's strike against Iraq's unfinished Osiraq nuclear reactor. The facility was destroyed, killing ten Iraqi soldiers and one French researcher. After attending the Tel Aviv University, he served as Deputy Squadron Commander A, 119 Squadron, flying the F-4 Phantom (1988–90). During 1990, he attended the Squadron Commanders Course and between 1990 and 1992, commanded 117 Squadron, flying the F-16. From 1992–94, he was Head of the Aircraft Branch in the Operations Requirement Department. In 1994, he was promoted to the rank of Colonel and assigned as Head of the Department of Operational Requirement for Weapon Development and Acquisition. He stayed at this post until 1998. Ramon accumulated over 3,000 flight hours on the A-4, Mirage III-C, and F-4, and over 1,000 flight hours on the F-16. Ramon was survived by his wife Rona and their four children, who were in Texas at the time of the accident. His eldest son, Captain Asaf Ramon, died on September 13, 2009, aged 21, during a routine training flight while piloting his F-16A, 3 months after graduating from the IAF flight school as the top cadet in his class.
	Garrett Erin Reisman (born February 10, 1968) is an American engineer and former NASA astronaut. He was a backup crew member for Expedition 15 and joined Expedition 16 aboard the International Space Station for a short time before becoming a member of Expedition 17. He returned to Earth 14 June 2008 on board STS-124 on Space Shuttle Discovery. He was a member of the STS-132 mission that traveled to the International Space Station aboard Space Shuttle Atlantis from May 14 to 26, 2010. Reisman was the first Jewish crew member on the International Space Station. He sent a greeting from space to the people of Israel during the celebration of Israel's 60th Independence Day in May 2008. He also did an entertaining, high definition video of "A day in the life of a space station crew member" while on board as well as demonstrating in the large, and at the time empty, Kibo section, that humans cannot "swim" in the microgravity of orbital space. Reisman was a member of the STS-132 mission that traveled to the International Space Station aboard Space Shuttle Atlantis from May 14 to 26, 2010. He participated in two spacewalks during this mission. When he got to the space station, via the space shuttle Endeavor, he was quick to put up a mezuzah in the bunk where he slept. "I did not consult any rabbi, so I hope I did not get into any trouble," he says. First time for 2 Jews in Space, with Garrett Gregory Errol Chamitof, ISS Expedition 18 (CHAI!) STS-123/124 (March 11, 2008), STS-132 (May 14, 2010), ISS Expedition 16 and 17
	Gregory Errol Chamitoff was born 6 August 1962 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada and is an engineer and NASA astronaut. As an undergraduate student at Cal Poly, Chamitoff taught lab courses in circuit design and worked summer internships at Four Phase Systems, Atari Computers, Northern Telecom, and IBM. He developed a self-guided robot for his undergraduate thesis project. While at MIT and Draper Labs (1985–1992), Chamitoff worked on several NASA projects. He performed stability analyses for the deployment of the Hubble Space Telescope, designed flight control upgrades for the Space Shuttle autopilot, and worked on the attitude control system for Space Station Freedom. His doctoral thesis developed a new approach for robust intelligent flight control of hypersonic vehicles. From 1993 to 1995, Chamitoff was a visiting professor at the University of Sydney, Australia, where he led a research group in the development of autonomous flight vehicles, and taught courses in flight dynamics and control. He has published numerous papers on aircraft and spacecraft guidance and control, trajectory optimization, and Mars mission design. He was assigned to Expedition 17 and flew to the International Space Station on STS-124, launching 31 May 2008. He was in space 198 days, joining Expedition 18 after Expedition 17 left the station, and returned to Earth 30 November 2008 on STS-126. Chamitoff served as a mission specialist on the STS-134 mission. As part of his personal allowance, Chamitoff brought the first bagels into space, 3 bags (18 sesame seed bagels) of Fairmount Bagels with him, from his cousin's bagel bakery. While Richard Garriott was aboard the ISS at the beginning of Expedition 18, Chamitoff and Garriott filmed the first magic show in space, and along with Yury Lonchakov, Michael Fincke and Richard Garriott, filmed the first science-fiction movie made in space, "Apogee of Fear". Greg Chamitoff took 2 specially designed mezuzot created by Judaica designer Laura Cowan on Expedition 17. Click here for the story!. Chamitoff served as a mission specialist on STS-134, the penultimate Space Shuttle mission, during which he made two spacewalks. First time for 2 Jews in Space, with Garrett Erin Reisman, ISS Expedition 18 (CHAI!) STS-124/126 (May 31, 2008), STS-134 (May 16, 2011), ISS Expedition 17 and 18
	James T. Kirk (William Shatner) was born in 2233 in Riverside, Iowa. He was raised there by his parents, George and Winona Kirk. Although born on Earth, Kirk for a time lived on Tarsus IV, where he was one of nine surviving witnesses to the massacre of 4,000 colonists by Kodos the Executioner. Kirk became Starfleet's youngest captain when he received command of the USS Enterprise for a five-year mission. William Shatner was born in Montreal, Canada in 1931. Shatner's grandparents were Jewish immigrants from Austria, Poland, Hungary, and Ukraine and Shatner was raised in Conservative Judaism. He attended Willingdon Elementary School,[9] in Notre-Dame-de-Grace (NDG-Montreal) and Baron Byng High School, in Montreal, as well as West Hill High School in NDG. He is an alumnus of the Montreal Children's Theatre. He also attended McGill University in Montreal, where he studied economics and graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce degree. In June 2011, McGill awarded him with an honorary doctorate of letters. The Students' Society of McGill University building on McTavish Street is popularly (though not officially) named "Shatner".
	Spock (Leonard Nimoy) serves aboard the starship Enterprise, serving as science officer and first officer, and later as commanding officer of two iterations of the vessel. Spock's mixed human-Vulcan heritage serves as an important plot element in many of the character's appearances. Along with James T. Kirk and Leonard McCoy, he is one of the three central characters in the original Star Trek series and its films. After retiring from Starfleet, Spock serves as a Federation ambassador, contributing toward the detente between the Federation and the Klingon Empire. In his later years, he serves as Federation ambassador to the Romulan Empire and becomes involved in the ill-fated attempt to save Romulus from a supernova. Leonard Nimoy was born in Boston, Massachusetts in the West End, to Yiddish-speaking Orthodox Jewish immigrants from Iziaslav, Russian Empire (now Ukraine). His father, Max Nimoy, owned a barbershop in the Mattapan section of the city. His mother, Dora Nimoy (nee Spinner), was a homemaker. Nimoy began acting at the age of eight in children's and neighborhood theater. His parents wanted him to attend college and pursue a stable career, or even learn to play the accordion—which, his father advised, Nimoy could always make a living with—but his grandfather encouraged him to become an actor. His first major role was at 17, as Ralphie in an amateur production of Clifford Odets' Awake and Sing!. Nimoy took drama classes at Boston College in 1953 but failed to complete his studies, and in the 1970s studied photography at the University of California, Los Angeles. He has an MA in Education from Antioch College and an honorary doctorate from Antioch University in Ohio.
	Pavel Andreievich Chekov (Walter Koenig) is a Russian Starfleet officer, originally the helmsman of the Enterprise. Chekov also substitutes for Mr. Spock at the science officer station when necessary. His promotion to lieutenant, brought with it his transfer as the ship's tactical officer and chief of security. Chekov was an accomplice in Kirk's unsanctioned use of the Enterprise to rescue Spock but was exonerated for his actions. He serves as navigator and second officer aboard the Enterprise-A. Walter Marvin Koenig was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son of businessman Isadore Koenig and his wife Sarah (nee Strauss). Koenig's parents were Russian Jewish immigrants from the Soviet Union; his family lived in Lithuania when they emigrated, and shortened their surname from "Konigsberg" to "Koenig". Koenig's father was a communist who was investigated by the FBI during the McCarthy era. Koenig attended Grinnell College in Grinnell, Iowa with a pre-med major. He transferred to UCLA and received a BA in psychology. After a professor encouraged Koenig to become an actor, he attended the Neighborhood Playhouse with fellow students Dabney Coleman, Christopher Lloyd, and James Caan. In a press release, the studio's publicity department falsely ascribed the inclusion of Chekov to an article in Pravda that complained about the lack of Russians in Star Trek. Gene Roddenberry asked him to "ham up" his Russian accent to add a note of comic relief to the series. Chekov's accent has been criticized as inauthentic, in particular Koenig's substituting the 'w' sound in place of a 'v' sound (e.g, "wodka" for "vodka"). Koenig has said the accent was inspired by his father, who had the same difficulty with the 'v' sound.
We seem to recall information that one of these space-faring Jews put on tefillin while in orbit, but can't find any reference to this in our searches. We'd love to have any information you might have. Send it to: 1@kiddushclub.org