(CNN) # Israel was in mourning over the loss of Col. Ilan Ramon, the first man from his country to fly in space.
“We are in shock,” said Professor Zeev Levin of Tel Aviv University. “All of the experiments we’ve done are lost, but nothing is worth the heavy price we’re paying now.”
Levin led a science experiment brought aboard the space shuttle Columbia. The shuttle apparently broke up as it descended over central Texas Saturday morning. All seven crew members are assumed lost.