Türkiye having 2 astronauts exciting prospect, moonwalker says during Türkiye visit

By Tugba Altun

BURSA, Türkiye (AA) - Türkiye having two astronauts, one of which will go to space soon, is an exciting development, said a NASA astronaut who will pilot the Artemis II mission and go to the Moon.

Alongside Victor Glover, Rusty Schweickart, who carried out a similar duty with the Apollo 9 mission in 1969, came to Türkiye and the moonwalkers talked about their experiences in space.

Also providing information about the developments regarding the Artemis II mission, the astronauts spoke to Anadolu on the sidelines of the "Planetary Congress" organized by the Association of Space Explorers (ASE) and hosted by Gokmen Space Aviation Training Center (GUHEM) in northwestern Bursa province.

Talking about his time in space, Schweickart stated that he realized where he actually was when a camera malfunctioned while on the Moon and he was able to think calmly for five minutes, and that he was grateful for the experience.

"I had five minutes to appreciate where I was. Looking at the Earth, and from that perspective, seeing everyone, all life below me, had a very important, very powerful impact on me. The big question I asked myself was, 'Am I me, or am I us?'" Schweickart said.

"And at that moment, I realized that I represented all humanity."
While talking about his experiences in space, Glover stated that the greatest thing about "being in the moment" is to live that experience at that moment.

Explaining that living in the moment is a unique experience, Glover said that he is looking forward to his next mission and is very happy because he will have the chance to see the Moon and the Earth.

"People like to ask what was my favorite what you know, and I could tell you about a hundred different amazing things. But no matter what I tell you, you can experience being there," the astronaut said.

"And that's what was really unique was just being in the moment, and sitting in the Cupola, staring at the Earth and, and I'm really looking forward to this next mission and the opportunity to see the Moon but also, you know, people ask about seeing the Moon. But I'm also going to get the chance, Lord willing, to see the Earth from a quarter million miles away. And that is really special," he added.

- Artemis II mission

Glover stated that they have been training for Artemis II for several months, learned about the Orion spacecraft and the launch system, and will start simulations soon and have met with companies related to the mission, officials from NASA and the European Space Agency.

Emphasizing that they basically focused on three topics: training, learning the new Orion vehicle, tests and explaining what the mission is, Glover said:

"So this mission will be ten days. The first day we'll spend orbiting the Earth, checking out all of the systems, making sure that it's safe to go to the Moon. And then, after about 24 hours, we'll get the go to do a translunar injection (TLI). And that will be really neat. We will burn the engines for about five minutes as we swing by the Earth and then we'll head out to the Moon and it'll be about a four-day trip to the Moon," he said, adding that they will not circle the Moon this time.

"And then we'll come back to Earth four more days later and we'll splash down in the Pacific Ocean. One really unique facet of this mission is on that first day, during that first 24 hours, we're actually going to fly the Orion spacecraft to simulate a docking, manual docking so that we know that that system works for later missions where we'll dock to a lander or to the lunar gateway," he also said.

Schweickart also said that 50 years ago, when he went to the Moon with the Apollo 9 mission, he was the first person to test the Lunar module.

- "It is exciting for Türkiye to have 2 astronauts"

Glover also stated that the event organized by ASE and hosted by GUHEM was special and that the conference is held in different countries every year, adding that it was his first time visiting Türkiye and that it was very special for the conference to be here.

Stating that Turkish people should be proud to host the event, Glover continued his speech as follows:

"It really excites me that Türkiye has two astronauts in training. One of them will go to space very soon," he said.

- "GUHEM is great for children"

Schweickart, who tried the Moon simulator during his visit to GUHEM, pointed out that it was interesting to move without gravity on Earth thanks to the simulator and explained that although it was difficult to move horizontally, it was fun. Glover also said the simulator was great and that moving up and down easily in "no gravity" was perfect.

Schweickart pointed out that GUHEM is one of the best aviation and space museums in the world.

Glover emphasized that GUHEM was very impressive and that they stated that trying sample space-related mechanisms was a great experience for children.

Noting that this is a real learning method and inspiring, Glover added that he was very happy to be able to see GUHEM.