Türkiye’s space dream to come true, says expert

Ece Çelik - ISTANBUL

Türkiye can make its space dream come true, a Turkish aerospace engineer known for her work on controlling the direction of spacecraft has said.

Informing that Türkiye’s international studies on this issue have been done through the country’s space agency established in 2018, Demet Çilden Güler said some collaborations are also made with Istanbul Technical University (İTÜ) as a rocket is being designed to be sent to the moon.

“Türkiye can achieve scientific achievements if big investments are made.”

Regarding Türkiye’s plan to send humans into space, Çilden Güler said, “This requires a long time, budget and hard work. If the work on this is continued with determination, these dreams will of course come true.”

Çilden Güler, who did her master’s and Ph.D. at İTÜ, made her mark in the history of science with her studies on writing algorithms for spacecraft’s ability to find direction.

The direction is both determined and controlled thanks to some sensors, she expressed.

“The point where my work made the main difference was when I noticed a deficiency in the literature and started to research some external factors that affect spacecraft, such as solar storms and the interplanetary magnetic field,” she said.

Çilden Güler added that she wrote an algorithm for a spacecraft designed for the United Arab Emirates while she was doing research at the University of Colorado in the United States.

She also won the science award at Teknofest, Türkiye’s largest aerospace and technology festival held in the northern province of Samsun between Aug. 30 and Sept. 4.

“I have been very interested in space since my childhood,” said the 31-year-old, adding that she also has a passion for painting and writing, which have positive effects on her academic career.

Following many internships with defense industry companies while studying at university, she decided that she wanted to stay at the university and become an academic as it allowed her to focus on the subjects she was curious about, said Güler, adding that she had set her mind on being an aerospace engineer since her high school years.