DOVER, Del. (AP) -- Dover Air Force Base, home of the military's largest mortuary, made preparations Wednesday to take in remains from the crew of the space shuttle Columbia and begin the process of identifying them.
A C-141 cargo plane carrying remains found so far was expected to arrive during the afternoon from Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana, said base spokesman Maj. Jon Anderson.
Typically, arrival of remains at the Dover mortuary is closed to the press and public. Dover officials were awaiting word from the Pentagon on a request by the astronauts' families for media coverage of the arrival, Anderson said.
"As far as we know, it is being kept private,'' said NASA spokesman Al Feinberg.
NASA confirmed earlier this week that remains of some of the seven astronauts had been recovered, but Dover officials said they had no way of knowing how many sets of remains they would be working with.
In Jerusalem, Israel Radio reported that four sets of remains had been positively identified, including those of Israeli fighter pilot Ilan Ramon. Israeli officials said Ramon's remains had been identified from DNA and a jaw bone.
Feinberg said he could not confirm the report.
The identification of the remains likely will be based on dental records, X-rays from medical files and DNA analysis.
Anderson said an Israeli rabbi and a U.S. military rabbi would accompany the flight.
The Dover mortuary also handled the bodies of seven astronauts killed in the 1986 explosion of the space shuttle Challenger and victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attack on the Pentagon
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