The design process for Türkiye’s spacecraft for the moon mission came to an end and the production phase is about to start, the head of Turkish Space Agency (TSA) said.
The space agency is working hard for sending the candidate to the moon on the centennial of the Republic of Türkiye, Serdar Hüseyin Yıldırım said, as he gave information about Türkiye’s National Space Program.
13 experiments will be conducted in space
The Turkish space traveler will stay in space for two weeks and perform 13 experiments, Yıldırım said.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced air force pilot Alper Gezeravcı as the first Turkish astronaut to go into space. Tuva Cihangir Atasever, an aviation systems engineer at Turkish defense contractor Roketsan, is Gezeravcı’s backup.
The head of the space agency said training of two candidates continues intensively.
“Candidates receive training on several different subjects; eating, drinking, sleeping, and similar processes,” he added.
Meanwhile, the spacecraft is being prepared by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Türkiye (TUBITAK), he said.
Design comes to end
The design of the vehicle has been completed, Yıldırım said, adding that it is now in a state called “critical design,” which is about to end.
“Now the production will begin, everything is fine here, our first goal is to reach the moon,” he stressed.
After the first expedition, the agency plans to make a soft landing on the moon in 2029-2030, Yıldırım said.
Breaking News Turkey with agencies