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Turkey hails its first astronaut who returned from a 3-week mission to International Space Station
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In this image from video provided by NASA, the 11 International Space Station crew members representing Expedition 70 (red shirts) and Axiom Space 3 (dark blue suits) crews gather for a farewell ceremony calling down to mission controllers on Earth on Friday, Feb. 2, 2024. Front row from left are Italy's Walter Villadei, Turkey's Alper Gezeravci and Sweden's Marcus Wandt. Above them hanging upside down in blue is Axiom Space's Michael Lopez-Alegria, a former NASA astronaut. - photo by NASA via AP
ISTANBUL (AP) — Turkey’s first astronaut returned home to a hero’s welcome Monday, portrayed as a symbol of the country’s advances in technology and aerospace. Alper Gezeravci was greeted by bouquet-laden children at Ankara’s Esenboga Airport as he returned from a private three-week mission to the International Space Station. In return, he handed out Turkish flags he had carried with him into space.