"We are very excited to have Ilan on the crew," Kelly Beck, lead flight director of the STS-107 mission, told a press conference at the Johnson Space Center here.

Ramon, 48, a former fighter pilot with 4,000 hours in the cockpit who joined the Israeli Air Force in 1974, will be payload specialist on the 16-day scientific mission that is to conduct some 80 experiments in orbit.

"He is an important part of the team and he will contribute a lot to the mission," Beck said. "It's exciting to see another country get to have a first into space."

NASA did not specify whether it had increased security measures since Ramon joined Colombia's crew.

"We've had increased security measures since the 9/11 events," said Beck, referring to the September 11 2001 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington.

"The measures are there," she said. "We are comfortable with them."

Ramon said he was "honored and privileged to be on this flight," and that he did not consider either himself or his family to be targets of terrorist attacks, dwelling on the non-military nature of the mission.

"Although we're going to space, this flight is about making life on Earth better," Ramon said.

NASA hand-picked picked Ramon as a payload specialist in 1997 and he has been in training at the space center here since 1998.

Concern about small cracks found along the metal liners used to direct the fuel flow inside the main propulsion system forced NASA to delay Columbia's launch, originally scheduled for July 16.

Ramon describes himself as a secular Israeli, but said he would try to perform some symbolic Jewish traditions in space if time permits.

He said he was also looking forward to seeing Israel from space.

A native of Tel Aviv, Ramon fought in the Yom Kippur War of October 1973 and in Israel's invasion of Lebanon in 1982.

SPACE.WIRE