[ad_1]
Astronauts from Turkey, Italy and Sweden returned to Earth on Friday, ending a personal three-week mission to the International Space Station.
The trio had been accompanied by a retired NASA astronaut who now works for Axiom Space, the Houston firm that organized the chartered flight. The crew returned in a SpaceX capsule that parachuted into the Atlantic off the Florida coast.
Turkey celebrated Alper Gezeravci’s launch from Cape Canaveral final month. A former fighter pilot and captain for Turkish Airlines, he turned the primary particular person from his nation to fly in area.
HOW SPACEX AND COMMERCIAL FLIGHT ARE OPENING A UNIVERSE OF POSSIBILITIES ABOARD THE ISS: ASTRONAUTS
Gezeravci was joined on the journey by Italian Air Force Col. Walter Villadei, Sweden’s Marcus Wandt, a former fighter pilot chosen as a reserve astronaut by the European Space Agency in 2022 and Michael Lopez-Alegria, their escort.
The SpaceX capsule parachuting down off Florida’s coast on Feb. 9, 2024. (Axiom Space through AP)
Turkey, Italy and Sweden financed the mission, paying roughly $55 million apiece. It was Axiom’s third personal mission to the area station; the fourth is deliberate later this yr.
Before leaving the area station, Gezeravci thanked his nation for its “bold and determined decision” to ship a citizen into area as a part of its a centesimal anniversary as a republic.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
While in orbit, the astronauts carried out science experiments and chatted with schoolchildren and officers from their nations. They loved a number of additional days on the area station, ready for the climate to enhance within the splashdown zone.
[ad_2]
Source hyperlink