Posted by Turkse Media
January 20, 2024
The first Turkish astronaut, Alper Gezeravcı, was welcomed into space on Saturday along with his three international colleagues in space on the International Space Station (ISS).
The station’s seven-person crew met with the four astronauts of Axiom Mission 3: Alper Gezeravı, Michael Lopez-Alegria (Spain), Walter Villadei (Italy) and Marcus Wandt (Sweden).
The mission launched Thursday afternoon from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. This happened with a Falcon 9 rocket from the private space exploration company SpaceX.
The four men will conduct more than thirty scientific investigations during their fourteen-day stay.
“This is an incredibly exciting time for human spaceflight with the third private mission allowing many more countries to participate in the scientific research and technology development we carry out aboard this orbiting laboratory,” said ISS Commander Andreas Mogensen during the ceremony.
“We have doubled the number of nationalities on board the space station, from four to eight, which I think is a great testament to the international cooperation that underpins this beautiful space station.”
Turkey’s Gezeravci said he was pleased to represent his country and looked forward to contributing to scientific and research efforts. He expressed his gratitude to Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the Republic of Turkey, to all the heroes who died for Turkey, for the state and for the nation, for having had the opportunity to enter space.
Lopez-Alegria, the Ax-3 mission leader, commented: “This is truly a symbol of how Axiom is working with NASA and other partners to expand human access to low Earth orbit.”
“There are so many nationalities represented on board. This is really symbolic of what we are trying to do to open it up not only to other countries, but also to individuals and researchers,” she added.
Pilot Villadei said it was amazing to be on the ISS and see how international cooperation led to the creation of this outpost.
Crew member Wandt said it was amazing to fly and rotate around the Earth for 36 hours.
© Turkishmedia.nl – All rights reserved | AA | Published: 2024-01-20
2024-01-20 20:20:17
#Turkish #astronaut #welcomed #space #Turkish #Media