CORRECTS - 1st Turkish astronaut conducts 'message' experiment in space

CORRECTS DATE OF Ax-3 MISSION’S LAUNCH IN PARAGRAPH 5

By Tuba Ongun

Türkiye’s first astronaut, Alper Gezeravci, conducted his ninth experiment Monday on the International Space Station (ISS).

The study is an important step towards analyzing the responses of astronauts’ immune systems under microgravity and investigating the effects of long-term space missions, the Turkish Space Agency said on X.

The “message” experiment, developed by Istanbul’s Uskudar University using CRISPR gene engineering methods, seeks to identify genes whose functions have not yet been discovered and to determine which immune cells will be directly affected by gravity during space missions.

Gezeravci will perform four more studies on the ISS which will pave the way for Türkiye's future endeavors.

The Ax-3 mission, with Gezeravci on board, launched on Jan. 18 from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on a Falcon 9 rocket of private space company SpaceX and later docked with the International Space Station.

The four-person team will perform more than 30 scientific experiments during their two-week stay.