Turkish astronaut investigating microalgae in space

By Gokhan Ergocun

ISTANBUL (AA) – Continuing his mission on the International Space Station, the first Turkish space traveler, Alper Gezeravci, on Thursday is carrying out a scientific experiment focusing on microalgae, the Turkish Space Agency announced.

In the Algalspace experiment, developed by Istanbul’s Yildiz Technical University, the growth data of Antarctic and temperate microalgae in space will be compared, and a study on the use of polar algae in space will be carried out for the first time. In space, algae will be investigated for use in oxygen regeneration from carbon dioxide, additional food supply, water improvement, and life support.

The Ax-3 mission, with fighter pilot Gezeravci on board, launched late last week from NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Florida on a Falcon 9 rocket of private space company SpaceX, and later docked with the International Space Station, in orbit above Earth.

The four-person team will do more than 30 scientific experiments during their two-week stay, with Gezeravci responsible for 13 of them, or nearly half.