The Ilan Ramon Visitor Center

The story

On the edge of the northern cliff of Makhtesh Ramon, in Mitzpe Ramon, stands the visitor center of the crater. It serves two things at once: it explains the crater — how it was formed, what is inside it, and what one sees from the cliff — and it is also a memorial site for Ilan Ramon, the first Israeli astronaut, who perished in the disaster of the space shuttle Columbia. The center was renovated and reopened in February 2013, and in the display in it the life of Ramon is laid out beside the geological story of the crater. The link between the two is not accidental: the Ramon family is connected to Mitzpe Ramon by its name, and the name Ramon itself carries here both meanings — the place and the man. The building stands within walking distance of the cliff promenade, and from its windows the whole crater is seen.

• Desert
• Commemoration
• Museums