Turkey's first astronaut returns to Earth
Turkey's inaugural astronaut, Alper Gezeravcı, has made a successful return to Earth with the Axiom-3 team, touching down in the Gulf of Mexico after an approximate 48-hour journey.
The Axiom-3 crew, including Gezeravcı, departed the International Space Station (ISS) aboard the Dragon capsule on Wednesday at 17:20, concluding their mission with a smooth parachute-assisted landing.
The recovery vessel was reported to be 3 nautical miles away from the capsule, reaching the astronauts within half an hour.
The return journey of the Dragon capsule had been delayed three times due to unfavorable weather conditions.
This historic mission commenced on January 19, with Gezeravcı and three fellow astronauts launched into orbit by SpaceX's Falcon-9 rocket from Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 00:49. After approximately 36 hours in space, the Dragon spacecraft docked with the ISS on January 20 at 13:40 TRT.
During his stay on the ISS, Gezeravcı successfully conducted 13 experiments, marking a significant achievement for Turkey's space exploration efforts.
