A SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule attached to a Falcon 9 rocket launched Turkey’s first astronaut, Alper Gezeravcı, into space last night from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral as part of the Axiom-3 mission to the International Space Station (ISS), in a moment described as “historic” by Turkish President Tayyip Erdoğan.
Gezeravcı is accompanied by Swedish pilot Marcus Wandt and Italian Colonel Walter Villadei, all experienced military pilots representing their home countries, and retired NASA astronaut Miguel López-Alegría, a dual Spanish-US national who now works for the Texan startup Axiom Space, the private company that has organised the first private trip to space funded solely by Europe. After a 36-hour flight to the ISS, the crew will spend two weeks conducting experiments on the space station.
Gezeravcı, 44, a former fighter pilot and captain in Turkish Airlines, noted that this historic achievement for Turkey coincides with the celebrations for its centenary. “This is the beginning of our next centenary,” he told reporters before the space flight. For his part, the Turkish president stressed that this milestone marks “a step towards the second century of our Republic, the century of Turkey, with the manned space mission that we have undertaken for the first time”.
“For the first time we are sending a citizen into space to inspire our young people who look at the horizon with a twinkle in their eyes, and our children whose dreams go beyond the world,” Erdoğan said. Turkish Space Agency (TUA) chairman Yusuf Kıraç said the mission undertaken today by Turkey’s first astronaut had been an aspiration of Turkey for many years: “Today has marked a milestone for us, but this will continue. Our programme for the Moon, and sending our astronauts with our own launch systems, is the main goal for us.”
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Pablo Gómez is a specialist in Turkey and has been editor-in-chief of Hispanatolia since 2011. He has been analysing current affairs and geopolitics in Turkey and the surrounding region since 2006.
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