The First Manned Space Mission of Türkiye Has Been Completed

The Dragon Capsule carrying the Axiom Mission 3 (Ax-3) crew, including the first astronaut of Türkiye Alper Gezeravcı, landed in the ocean off the coast of the US state of Florida at around 16.30.

Upon landing in the ocean off the coast of the US State of Florida, the capsule carrying the Ax-3 crew was taken on board by the ground teams at around 17.00.

The Ax-3 crew, including Türkiye's first astronaut Alper Gezeravcı, was taken out of the Dragon capsule.

Walter Villadei, Marcus Wandt, Alper Gezeravcı and Michael Lopez-Alegria were taken out of the capsule around 17.30, respectively. Gezeravcı, who drew attention with his smiling face and vigorous demeanor when he came out of the capsule, showed the whole world that he was fine by raising his fist in the air as soon as he left the capsule.

Axiom Space broadcasted live the process of the Ax-3 crew, including Gezeravcı, returning to Earth from the International Space Station (ISS) with the Dragon capsule. At the same time, a special broadcast was shared on TÜBİTAK's social media accounts. In this broadcast, astronaut Tuva Cihangir Atasever, TUBITAK UZAY Business Development Group Leader Dr. Sadık Murat Yüksel and TUBITAK UZAY Chief Specialist Can Bayraktar shared both the details of the broadcast and technical details. Project coordinator Ömer Ataş, who connected to the broadcast from the USA, shared the last details before landing. In addition, science centers all around Türkiye shared this excitement. Giant screens were set up in science centers and Alper Gezeravcı's return to earth was followed with great enthusiasm. That enthusiasm was also reflected on the broadcast. Science centers in Gaziantep, Konya, Antalya, Antalya and Bursa were connected live and the excitement there was shared.

Gezeravcı is expected to be kept under observation for a week and the adaptation process is expected to be completed.

The Ax-3 crew left the ISS on February 7 at 17.20 GMT. The Dragon capsule carrying the Ax-3 crew, including Gezeravcı, was successfully launched from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 16.49 on January 18 (00.49 on January 19). The Ax-3 crew, whose journey lasted about 36 hours, reached the ISS on January 20.