Türkiye’s first astronaut to take Salt Lake plant to space

IZMIR

Türkiye's first space traveler Alper Gezeravcı will take the "Schrenkiella Parvula" plant, which grows endemically in Salt Lake in Türkiye’s Central Anatolia region, to space to test its feasibility for the purpose of improving soil on the Moon and Mars.

Gezeravcı will carry out an experiment called "Extremophyte" which will investigate the reactions of the plant to salt and other stress factors in the space environment. The experiment will examine whether the plant, which grows only in Salt Lake and is resistant to high salinity, can maintain its tolerance to high salinity in very weak gravity.

The experiment, which is led by Prof. Dr. İsmail Türkan from Yaşar University, will be carried out on the International Space Station (ISS) and continue in Türkiye.

Depending on the findings, the plant has the potential to be used in the improvement of regolith (soil on the Moon and Mars) with high salt and metal content and in the treatment of various wastes of astronauts in the bases planned to be established on other planets.

The plant is also tolerant to elements such as lithium and boron in addition to salt, therefore, it may also be used in future experiments to investigate tolerance to heavy metals and other environmental stresses in space.

Gezeravcı will leave for space on Jan. 17 to stay on the International Space Station (ISS) for 14 days and will also carry out 12 other experiments, ranging from the development of a new generation of materials to the conversion of carbon dioxide to oxygen in space. His trip was formerly postponed due to bad weather conditions.

Gezeravcı will take part in the AX-3 mission, carried out by the Turkish Space Agency and the Space Technologies Research Institute of the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Türkiye, alongside Spanish, Italian and Swedish astronauts.