Türkiye's first astronaut has begun to conduct scientific experiments at the International Space Station (ISS), the country's space agency announced Monday.
Alper Gezeravcı is part of a four-man crew that arrived at the ISS early on Saturday for a two-week stay, in the latest such mission arranged entirely at commercial expense by Texas-based startup company Axiom Space.
The rendezvous came about 37 hours after the Axiom Mission 3 quartet's Thursday evening liftoff in a rocketship from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
Plans call for the Ax-3 crew to spend roughly 14 days in microgravity conducting more than 30 experiments, many of them focused on the effects of spaceflight on human health and disease, advancing industrial processes and more.
A former fighter pilot and captain for Turkish Airlines, Gezeravcı alone will be responsible for 13 studies on behalf of universities and scientific centers in Türkiye.
These range from experiments on microalgae life support units for space missions to the effects of microgravity on the human respiratory system.
Gezeravcı, 44, has already started the first experiment named Extremophyte, which was developed by Ege University in the Aegean city of Izmir, the Turkish Space Agency (TUA) said on Monday.
Multiple experiments
The experiment aims to reveal the transcriptome by next-generation sequencing in plants grown in space and on Earth exposed to salt stress and to compare some physiological and molecular responses of glycophytic and halophytic plants to salt stress in microgravity.
Another experiment, developed by the Marmara Research Center of the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Türkiye (TÜBITAK), based in northwestern Türkiye, will study the production of high-strength alloys resistant to high temperatures.
Under the gMETAL, the second experiment of the Marmara center, Gezeravcı, will look into the effects of gravity on creating a homogeneous mixture between solid particles and a fluid medium under conditions without a chemical reaction.
An experiment developed by Türkiye's Boğaziçi 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.
These seek to examine their metabolic changes, determine their carbon dioxide capture performance and oxygen production capabilities, and develop a life support system.
The Metabolom experiment from Ankara University in the Turkish capital aims to explore the negative effects of space conditions on human health. To curb these effects, it will examine the physiological and biochemical changes in gene expression and metabolism of astronauts taking part in space missions.
The Myeloid experiment developed by Ankara's Hacettepe University aims to measure and evaluate the travel and space conditions and cosmic radiation damage that space mission participants are exposed to immunologically at the level of myeloid-derived suppressor cells.
The Message experiment, developed by Istanbul's Usküdar University using CRISPR gene engineering methods, seeks to identify genes whose function has not yet been discovered and determine which immune cells will directly affect gravity during space missions.
With the Algalspace experiment, developed by Istanbul's Yıldız Technical University, the growth data of Antarctic and temperate microalgae in space will be compared, and a study on the use of polar algae in space will be carried out for the first time.
In space, algae will be investigated for oxygen regeneration from carbon dioxide, additional food supply, water improvement and life support.
The CRISPR-Gem experiment, also from Yıldız University, seeks to investigate the effectiveness of CRISPR gene editing techniques of molecular biology on plants in a microgravity environment to understand and improve the defense mechanisms of plants, which are the skeleton of bioregenerative life support systems meant to provide a sustainable system in long-term space missions, one of the chief hurdles for the future of humanity in space.
With the Pranet experiment prepared by Muş Science and Art Center students, the effect of propolis on bacteria in microgravity environments will be investigated.
The VocalCORD experiment conducted by Istanbul's Haliç University will try to detect disturbances in the physiology of the respiratory system from frequency changes in the voice with the support of smartwatch artificial intelligence and to investigate the effects of zero gravity on the human voice.
The Oxygen Saturation experiment from Istanbul's Nişantaşı University seeks to identify the differences and disorders caused by low gravity by calculating the oxygen level of the air given with the support of artificial intelligence.
With the Miyoka experiment from the TÜBITAK Space Technologies Research Institute, Gezeravci will assemble lead-free components on an electronic card in the station and, later, back on Earth, subject them to detailed examination, testing the effects of microgravity on the lead-free soldering process.
Ambitious plans
The first person from his country to rocket into space, Gezeravcı's journey has been closely followed across Türkiye.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan called the trip "historic" and said it marked "a new symbol of the growing, stronger and assertive Türkiye."
The journey is part of the country's ambitious 10-year space road map, unveiled in early 2021, including missions to the moon and developing internationally viable satellite systems.
The program envisages working with other countries to build a spaceport and create a global satellite technology brand.
The TUA was established in 2018 to join a handful of other countries with space programs.
Both the Crew Dragon vessel and the Falcon 9 rocket that carried the Ax-3 quartet to orbit were supplied, launched, and operated by Elon Musk's SpaceX under contract with Axiom, as they were in the first two Axiom missions to the ISS in 2022.
The multinational team was led by Michael Lopez-Alegria, 65, a Spanish-born retired NASA astronaut and Axiom executive making his sixth flight to the space station. He also commanded Axiom's debut mission – the first all-private voyage to the ISS – in April 2022.
His second-in-command for Ax-3 is Italian Air Force Col. Walter Villadei, 49. Rounding out the team is Swedish aviator Marcus Wandt, 43, representing the European Space Agency (ESA).
Axiom billed the flight as "the first all-European commercial astronaut mission" to the space station.
They were welcomed aboard ISS by the seven members of the station's current regular crew – two Americans from NASA, one astronaut each from Japan and Denmark and three Russian cosmonauts.
Since its founding eight years ago, Houston-based Axiom has carved out a business catering to foreign governments and wealthy private patrons aiming to put their own astronauts into orbit. The company charges at least $55 million per seat for organizing, training and equipping customers for spaceflight.
Axiom is also one of a handful of companies building a commercial space station intended to eventually replace the ISS, which NASA expects to retire around 2030.
Launched to orbit in 1998, the ISS has been continuously occupied since 2000 under a U.S.-Russian-led partnership that includes Canada, Japan and 11 countries belonging to the European Space Agency.