Astronauts from Turkey, Italy and Sweden returned to Earth on Friday, ending a non-public three-week mission to the Worldwide Area Station.
The trio have been accompanied by a retired NASA astronaut who now works for Axiom Area, 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 Airways, he grew to become the primary particular person from his nation to fly in space.
Gezeravci was joined on the journey by Italian Air Pressure Col. Walter Villadei, Sweden’s Marcus Wandt, a former fighter pilot chosen as a reserve astronaut by the European Area Company in 2022 and Michael Lopez-Alegria, their escort.
Turkey, Italy and Sweden financed the mission, paying roughly $55 million apiece. It was Axiom’s third personal mission to the space station; the fourth is deliberate later this 12 months.
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This picture supplied by Axiom Area exhibits astronauts giving a thumbs up after the SpaceX capsule parachuted into the Atlantic Ocean and was positioned aboard a restoration vessel on Friday, Feb. 9, 2024 off the Florida coast. Astronauts from Turkey, Italy and Sweden returned to Earth on Friday, ending a non-public three-week mission to the Worldwide Area Station. Credit score: Axiom Area by way of AP
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This picture supplied by Axiom Area exhibits a SpaceX capsule parachuting into the Atlantic Ocean on Friday, Feb. 9, 2024 off the Florida coast. Astronauts from Turkey, Italy and Sweden returned to Earth on Friday, ending a non-public three-week mission to the Worldwide Area Station. Credit score: Axiom Area by way of AP
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This picture supplied by Axiom Area exhibits a SpaceX capsule parachuting into the Atlantic Ocean on Friday, Feb. 9, 2024 off the Florida coast. Astronauts from Turkey, Italy and Sweden returned to Earth on Friday, ending a non-public three-week mission to the Worldwide Area Station. Credit score: Axiom Area by way of AP
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On this picture from video supplied by NASA, the 11 Worldwide Area Station crew members representing Expedition 70 (purple shirts) and Axiom Area 3 (darkish blue fits) crews collect for a farewell ceremony calling right down to mission controllers on Earth on Friday, Feb. 2, 2024. Entrance row from left are Italy’s Walter Villadei, Turkey’s Alper Gezeravci and Sweden’s Marcus Wandt. Above them hanging the other way up in blue is Axiom Area’s Michael Lopez-Alegria, a former NASA astronaut. Credit score: NASA by way of AP
Earlier than leaving the space station, Gezeravci thanked his nation for its “daring and decided determination” to ship a citizen into space as a part of its one hundredth anniversary as a republic.
Whereas in orbit, the astronauts carried out science experiments and chatted with schoolchildren and officers from their international locations. They loved a couple of further days on the space station, ready for the climate to enhance within the splashdown zone.
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Astronauts from Turkey, Italy and Sweden return to Earth, ending personal space station journey (2024, February 9)
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