UPDATE - Farewell ceremony held for Ax-3 mission crew on Int'l Space Station

UPDATE WITH TURKISH SPACE TRAVELER'S COMMENTS

By Gokhan Ergocun

ISTANBUL (AA) – A farewell ceremony was organized on Friday at 9.50 a.m. ET (1450GMT) for the Axiom-3 space mission crew, including the first Turkish space traveler Alper Gezeravci, before leaving the International Space Station (ISS).

The crew is expected to leave the ISS on Saturday at 6 a.m. ET (1100GMT) and the journey back to Earth will take 12 hours.

The planned landing is expected to take place at one of seven potential sites in the Atlantic Ocean, east of the US state of Florida, and the Gulf of Mexico to the west.

The Ax-3 mission was launched on Jan. 18 from NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Florida on a Falcon 9 rocket of private space company SpaceX, and docked with the International Space Station on Jan. 19.

The crew was responsible for conducting over 30 scientific experiments.

- Starting point of Turkish space journey

Gezeravci, speaking at the ceremony, said that his mission was the starting point of Türkiye's space journey.

"I felt really honored and privileged to be a part of this great team over here," he said, adding: "I would like to pay my deepest appreciation to the expedition crew."

He also said he is grateful to Türkiye for its decision to step into the "manned space mission."