Just hours from now, Türkiye's very first space traveler, Alper Gezeravci, is headed to the International Space Station to do more than a dozen scientific experiments over the course of his two-week stay while in Earth orbit.
After a Jan. 9 launch date was delayed, the F-16 pilot is scheduled to blast off from the US state of Florida at 1.11 am local time on Thursday (GMT2211 Wednesday) on the Ax3 mission.
Col. Gezeravci is taking in the mission along with a group of Spanish, Italian, and Swedish colleagues.
The international crew is expected to dock with the International Space Station at 1.15 p.m. (GMT1015) on Friday.
During the two-week mission on the space station, Gezeravci will be very busy, as he tackles 13 different scientific experiments on behalf of universities and scientific centers in Türkiye.
Experiments
Gezeravci’s first experiment was developed by the Marmara Research Center of the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Türkiye (Tubitak), based in northwestern Türkiye, to study the production of high-strength alloys resistant to high temperatures.
The second experiment developed by the Marmara center, the gMETAL experiment, will investigate the effects of gravity on the creation of a homogeneous mixture between solid particles and a fluid medium under conditions without a chemical reaction.
An experiment developed by Türkiye's Bogazici University with the Marmara center seeks to carry out growth and endurance tests of microalgae species adapted to harsh earthly conditions under non-gravity conditions, to examine their metabolic changes, determine their carbon dioxide capture performance and oxygen production capabilities, and develop a life support system.
