United States intelligence sources have expressed growing concern over a possible terror attack at the site of NASA’s space shuttle launching in Florida on July 19th, during the shuttle launch.
The shuttle launch, scheduled for July is carrying the first-ever Israeli astronaut, Ilan Ramon, on board and NASA officials are worried that makes it a major target for terrorists wanting to strike at both the United States and Israel.
ABC reported Wednesday that U.S. Intelligence sources fear terrorists could use a small plane to hit the shuttle. However, according to the sources, no such warning has yet been received.
The sources said, “the fact that an Israeli astronaut will be on board an American shuttle could turn the launch into an extremely attractive target for terrorist organizations, which won’t be able to stay away from the temptation.”
The same sources said that recently suspicious activities had been spotted around the launching site in Florida. Sources in NASA have requested security be tightened surrounding the sensitive area, however military sources have said in reply that it is “hard to imagine further security in that area”.
ABC added that during previous launches of space shuttles, the area had been highly secured by warships, intelligence AWACS planes as well as combat planes.
Colonel Ilan Ramon is due to set out for a research mission in space, as a freight expert, aboard flight STS 107, dedicated to scientific experiments. Amongst other things, Ramon is expected to carry out an experiment using a special camera which takes pictures of dust particles that move in the atmosphere from one area to the other. The mission is scheduled to last 16 days.
During the last couple of years, Ramon has been training at Johnson’s Space Center in Houston. Ramon completed the Israeli Air Force Pilot training course in 1974. During his military career later on, he served as commander of F-16 and F-4 squadrons and in 1994 he was appointed to Colonel in the Israeli Air Force. (Albawaba.com)
