Tuva Cihangir Atasever, the second Turkish astronaut to travel into space after his predecessor Alper Gezeravcı’s flight to the International Space Station last January, successfully completed his mission yesterday after a suborbital flight and several scientific experiments aboard Virgin Galactic’s VSS Unity.
The mission of the second Turkish astronaut began in New Mexico at 8:30 local time (7:30 CET), from where the VSS Unity of Virgin Galactic’s fleet took off, reaching an altitude of 90 kilometres at a speed of Mach 3 and finally completing its flight after 1 hour and 10 minutes.
Turkish media reported that during the flight Atasever carried out 7 scientific experiments, including among others insulin tests and other experiments in microgravity. On board the aircraft were – in addition to Atasever himself – two astronauts from the USA and Italy, as well as the two pilots, who successfully landed at 9:40 local time.
Before his mission began, Turkish President Tayyip Erdoğan spoke via video conference with Atasever, wishing him good luck and success in his tasks during the space flight.
In the course of his mission in space, the Turkish astronaut carried with him and on his uniform the flags of Turkey and Azerbaijan, his mother’s country of origin, as a symbol not only of his dual origin but also of the brotherhood between the peoples of the two neighbouring countries. ‘The flag of Azerbaijan, my mother’s homeland, will be with me on this flight, next to the Turkish flag on my chest… Just as these two countries are brothers on Earth, they will also be next to each other during my space flight,’ Atasever said before departing.
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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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