Turkey made history on Thursday, January 18, as the SpaceX Axiom mission successfully launched to the International Space Station (ISS) with country’s first astronaut on board.
A SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule lifted off on a Falcon 9 rocket at 4.49 pm local time (21:49 GMT/UTC) from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, United States (US).
On board the rocket were former NASA astronaut Michael Lopez-Alegria from Spain, Italy’s Walter Villadei, Sweden’s Marcus Wandt and Turkey’s Alper Gezeravci.
The capsule is set to arrive at the ISS on Saturday, January 20, and will stay there for 14 days before returning to Earth.
The mission aims to conduct 13 space experiments, including studies on cancer and immune cell development.
“We are taking a step into the second century of our Republic, the Century of Türkiye, with the manned space mission we have undertaken for the first time,” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a video message.
“For the first time, we are sending a citizen into space to inspire our young people who look to the horizon with a sparkle in their eyes and our children whose dreams cannot be contained within the world,” he added.
