Turkey’s first astronaut heads to space

ANKARA — In a break from the bitter political bickering, a staggering economic crisis and the regional military escalation, some Turks on Thursday night tuned in to live national TV to watch Turkey’s first astronaut, Alper Gezeravci, travel to space.

The Turkish air force colonel joined the four-member crew as a mission specialist on part of the first all-European commercial astronaut mission, Axiom-3, to the International Space Station (ISS).

A SpaceX Falcon rocket lifted off carrying crew aboard the Dragon Capsule from Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 4:49 p.m. Eastern time (12:49 a.m. Istanbul time), and will dock at the Harmony module on Friday at the ISS after roughly 48 hours of travel, NASA officials said in a prelaunch press conference on Tuesday. 

The team, led by retired NASA astronaut Michael Lopez-Alegria, also includes Axiom-3 pilot Italian Air Force Col. Walter Villadei and Swedish astronaut Marcus Wandt. They are set to spend two weeks at the ISS to conduct more than 30 different experiments.

The studies will include evaluating the mental and cognitive impacts of space travel, evaluations to help better predict if a crew member might be more likely to develop space motion sickness, and evaluating the effects of microgravity on ovarian cells, said Dana Weigel, deputy ISS program manager.

The launch, which was initially planned for Wednesday, was postponed until Thursday because “additional time allows teams to complete prelaunch checkouts and data analysis on the vehicle,” said SpaceX.

Ahead of the flight, Gezeravci received training from Axiom Space under a 2022 deal signed between Turkey and the Houston-based space company to send a Turkish astronaut to space.

Turkey’s interest in space studies has increased over the past five years. Following the establishment of the Turkish Space Agency in 2018, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan unveiled his country’s national space strategy in 2022, which also involves a plan to send a locally produced spacecraft to the moon in 2026.

Erdogan also enjoys close ties with SpaceX founder Elon Musk. The duo held a face-to-face meeting in New York in September 2023. 

“We see our first Turkish astronaut as a new symbol of a growing, strong and ambitious Turkey,” Erdogan said Tuesday after a cabinet meeting. 

The mission will mark the third commercial astronaut mission to the ISS as part of NASA’s decision to open the ISS to commercial opportunities and private astronaut missions in 2019.