Here's a photograph of the crew at breakfast before their departure:

(01/16/2003) --- KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - The STS-107 crew gathers at breakfast prior to preparing for launch. Seated left to right are Payload Specialist Ilan Ramon, Mission Specialist David Brown, Pilot William "Willie" McCool, Commander Rick Husband, Mission Specialist Laurel Clark, Payload Commander Michael Anderson and Mission Specialist Kalpana Chawla. STS-107 is a mission devoted to research and will include more than 80 experiments that will study Earth and space science, advanced technology development, and astronaut health and safety. The payload on Space Shuttle Columbia includes FREESTAR (Fast Reaction Experiments Enabling Science, Technology, Applications and Research) and the SHI Research Double Module (SHI/RDM), known as SPACEHAB. Experiments on the module range from material sciences to life sciences.

-Profiles of Space Shuttle Columbia Crew (AP, February 01, 2003)

As you look at that crew--an Israeli, two women, a black pilot, and a native of India--it puts into perspective some of the complaints you hear about what a racist or sexist or whatever society we are. Who would not choose to be their countryman?

UPDATE:
Ilan Ramon (Jewish Virtual Library)

Ilan Ramon was born June 20,1954, in Tel Aviv, Israel. Ramon graduated from High School in 1972, and received a bachelor of science degree in electronics and computer engineering from Tel Aviv
University in 1987.

In 1974, Ramon graduated as a fighter pilot from the Israel Air Force (IAF) Flight School. From 1974-1976, he participated in A-4 Basic Training and Operations. The years 1976-1980 were 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 1981-1983, he served
as the Deputy Squadron Commander B, F-16 Squadron. From 1983-1987, he attended Tel Aviv University. From 1988-1990, he served as Deputy Squadron Commander A, F-4 Phantom Squadron. During 1990,
he attended the Squadron Commanders Course. From 1990-1992, he served as Squadron Commander, F-16 Squadron. From 1992-1994, 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.
Colonel Ramon has 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 also served in the Yom Kippur War and Operation Peace for Galilee. He
was reported also to be one of the pilots involved in the raid on the Iraqi nuclear reactor at Osirak in 1981 (Jerusalem Post, January 17,
2003).

Profile: Israeli Astronaut Ilan Ramon Brings Pride To Israelis And Relief From Focusing On Ongoing Violence And
Upcoming Election (All Things Considered: January 27, 2003)
NASA fears Israeli astronaut's shuttle launch will tempt terrorists (Debbie Berman, May 17, 2002, ISRAEL21c.org)
Israel's First Astronaut Bumps Bad News from Hometown Papers (Barbara Opall-Rome, 17 January 2003, Space.com)
Israel's astronaut carries nation's dreams: All eyes are on Ilan Ramon (Verity Murphy, 16 January, 2003, BBC News Online)

MORE:
Here's a link to Kennedy Space Center

Here's the Google News page that has coverage.

& here's -Space.com coverage

&

Space Exploration (Wahington Post)
Shuttle Launches With First Israeli Astronaut (William Harwood, January 16, 2003, The Washington Post)

Here's the NASA Shuttle page with info about Columbia.

UPDATE:
International space station crew retrievable even with shuttles grounded (MATT CRENSON, February 1, 2003, Associated Press)

Even with its shuttles grounded, NASA can easily retrieve the astronauts aboard the international space station using Russian vehicles.

A Soyuz vehicle attached to the space station could bring the three astronauts onboard back to Earth at a moment's notice. But if the space agency's remaining shuttles are out of service for an extended period in the wake of Saturday's catastrophe, as seems likely, it could prove difficult to maintain the station's operations. [...]

Expedition Six, as the current crew is called, arrived at the station in November and is scheduled to return to in March. The crew consists of NASA astronauts Ken Bowersox and Don Pettit and Russian Soyuz commander Nikolai Budarin.

The Columbia shuttle mission that tragically ended Saturday over eastern Texas did not visit the space station. But the crews of the two spacecraft did speak by telephone on Jan. 28, the anniversary of the Challenger disaster that killed seven astronauts 17 years ago.

An unmanned supply vessel was to be launched Sunday from Russia's Baikonur Cosmodrome. It was scheduled to arrive at the orbiting station Tuesday.

Posted by Orrin Judd at February 1, 2003 10:10 AM