Israel Space Week kicked off Sunday with dozens of activities across the country.
This year the special guest is former astronaut Scott Kelly, who spent a year in the international space station to better understand how the human body and soul would be impacted by a trip to Mars.
Kelly, whose mission was part of an experiment with his twin brother who stayed on Earth, spoke in Netanya alongside Science and Technology Minister Ofir Akunis. He said that after returning to Earth, his masseuse said she never saw feet that were as soft, due to his bones losing density from the microgravity conditions.
Kelly also grew by two inches during his stay at the station because the special conditions allowed the spine to expand. He later returned to his original height.
He recalled how he felt disoriented after coming back to Earth, and found it hard to walk and even jumped into his home's pool with his clothes on.
He also spoke about how space can help bring people together, referring to the Russian cosmonaut who stayed with him in the station as "a brother from another mother." He said that "from space, we do not see the Earth with political borders."
Meanwhile, President Reuven Rivlin and his wife Nechama Rivlin met with the families of the crew members of NASA's 2003 Space Shuttle Columbia disaster. Israeli astronaut Ilan Ramon, the nation's first in space, was among the crew members, all of whom perished.
Ramon's wife, Rona, had invited the family members to visit Israel to attend the annual memorial this week, but she passed away several weeks ago. Her children asked the Rivlins to host them in her stead.
