“When will the first Turkish astronaut Alper Gezeravcı return to earth?” The question has been asked with curiosity since last week. According to the normal plan, Gezeravcı’s departure date was exactly 14 days after the launch, that is, on February 2, 2024. However, due to technical reasons, the return date was postponed 3 times. A new statement came from SpaceX regarding the issue. Here are the details…
When will Alper Gezeravcı return? Statement from SpaceX!
The first Turkish astronaut Alper Gezeravcı went to the International Space Station via SpaceX last January. Gezeravcı, who carried out many scientific experiments in the space environment, was docked to the ISS with SpaceX’s Dragon Capsule. After 14 days from the launch date, the program was completed and it was time for Gezeravcı to return home.
However, the return planned for February 2, 2024 at 17.50 CET was postponed due to technical difficulties. Subsequently, problems encountered in each of the return dates, which were determined twice, prevented the launches from being made. According to the latest statement made by SpaceX, the Dragon Capsule and the Ax-3 team, including Alper Gezeravcı, will begin their return journey at 17.05 GMT.
Gezeravcı, who went into space on January 19, 2024 and carried out various studies in space for 14 days, carried out 13 important experiments. Salt stress, space conditions, etc. are included in the experimental subjects determined by the Turkish Space Agency and TÜBİTAK. He conducted research on many important subjects. In addition, he also answered the public’s questions during his occasional contacts with Turkey.
Besides, as you know, the International Space Station orbits the Earth every 90 minutes. In other words, in your current location, the ISS passes over you every 1.5 hours. Especially amateur radio players were very excited about this. Because they tried to contact the first Turkish astronaut through the signals and calls they sent to the International Space Station for 14 days.
To sum up our news in general terms, historical space travel has now come to an end. The return journey will begin with the Dragon capsule, which will leave the International Space Station today at 17.05 GMT. After the journey, which will last 32 hours in total, the capsule is planned to land at one of 7 potential landing points in the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico to the west.
So what do you think about Alper Gezeravcı’s space travel? What do you think will be its benefits to Turkish science history?
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