First Turkish astronaut reunites with his family

ANKARA

Türkiye’s first astronaut, Alper Gezeravcı, who returned to Earth after a 20-day mission in space, has reunited with his family.

Industry and Technology Minister Mehmet Fatih Kacır shared the images of Gezeravcı meeting with his family on his social media account.

"The moment of reunion... Our astronaut Alper Gezeravcı met with his family. He will come to our country after health checks," Kacır said in his message.

Gezeravcı and the Axiom-3 team returned to Earth in SpaceX’s Dragon capsule. After landing in the ocean off the coast of the U.S. state of Florida on Feb. 9, Gezeravcı and the three other astronauts were brought to Houston by the ground crew.

Going through health checks within the process of readaptation to Earth, Gezeravcı also held a phone call with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan following his return.

Erdoğan congratulated Gezeravcı on the completion of his mission and said, "When you come to Ankara, I would be very happy if you meet with us in person and tell us about the whole process in detail. You will have very valuable duties from now on."

Gezeravcı thanked Erdoğan for his contribution to Türkiye becoming the 22nd country to reach the International Space Station. "We have been the fastest country to reach the International Space Station from the beginning of the training to the International Space Station. I would like to thank you for your decision on this issue and your vision that has taken our country to the next step," he said.

Answering Erdoğan's question regarding his health condition, Gezeravcı said, "Everything is fine. The doctors who welcomed us here were a little surprised. They expected my adaptation process to take longer. They were a bit stunned when I started running around outside the building as soon as possible."

Second astronaut to set off in April

Following Gezeravcı’s return, Tuva Cihangir Atasever, who was announced as the backup space traveler in the recent space mission, will be sent to space in April for a suborbital flight of approximately 80 kilometers and he will conduct seven experiments, informed Yusuf Kıraç, the president of the Turkish Space Agency (TUA).

Atasever was born on Aug. 12, 1992 in Ankara. He graduated from Bilkent University's Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering and completed his master's degree in electrical and electronics engineering at the University of California, Irvine. He then worked as an avionics system engineer at Roketsan for five years. Candidates selected for Türkiye's manned space mission continue their training in the U.S.