Minister: Manned mission to ISS ti open new horizons for Türkiye in space research

Türkiye’s first manned mission to the International Space Station (ISS) will be a milestone in the country's space research and a great source of inspiration for future generations.

Türkiye’s Minister of Industry and Technology Mehmet Fatih Kacir made the remarks while talking to reporters in Gebze district of Kocaeli province after participating in an event organized by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Türkiye (TÜBİTAK) at Marmara Technopark, Anadolu reports.

The minister recalled that the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announced yesterday the launch time of the spacecraft with the first manned mission from Türkiye.

"On the night of January 17-18, at 01.11 am Turkish time, Alper Gezeravci will depart for the ISS. Since yesterday he has been in pre-flight quarantine mode. Every day we communicate. Everything is in order," said the Turkish industry minister.

По словам Каджыра, первый астронавт Турции прошел довольно длительную подготовку, которая включала и теоретическую часть и тренировки, работал с исследовательскими центрами турецких вузов в рамках подготовки к научным экспериментам на МКС.

According to Kacir, the first astronaut of Türkiye underwent quite a long training, which included both the theoretical part and training, worked with research centres of Turkish universities in preparation for scientific experiments on the ISS.

"Turkey will continue to send missions into space. I hope that we will complete this mission, which will be carried out within 14 days, and thus open up new horizons in Turkish space research," the minister added.

A Turkish astronaut will travel to the station as part of the European astronaut mission to the ISS Axiom 3 (AX-3). Spanish, Italian and Swedish cosmonauts are also flying with him.

The launch will take place from the bridgehead of the space centre. Kennedy in Florida under the auspices of SpaceX. The astronauts will fly in a Dragon Company capsule mounted on a Falcon 9 rocket.

Gezeravci will stay on the ISS for 14 days and conduct 13 scientific experiments prepared by Turkish scientists and research institutes.

Its journey marks the culmination of many years of unwavering Turkish space exploration efforts.