February 2003, Columbia Space Shuttle disaste, USA When the Columbia Space Shuttle crashed in open fields in Texas, ZAKA volunteers were brought to the scene at the request of Israel's Foreign Ministry and the Chief Rabbi of NASA to aid in the identification of body parts of the Israeli astronaut Ilan Ramon. Their extensive experience in rescue and recovery of body parts was invaluable in the search. Even though Ramon's partial remains were soon positively identified, the volunteers remained at the scene to help the rescue workers identify remains of all the astronauts.