'The Future is in the skies': First Turkish astronaut

The spacecraft owned by SpaceX with Türkiye's first space traveler Alper Gezeravcı was successfully launched from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, U.S. Gezeravcı, is scheduled to spend 14 days at the International Space Station (ISS), where he will conduct various scientific experiments during his stay.

Michael Lopez-Alegria of the U.S. and Spain, as a member of Axiom Mission 3 crew, greets the crowd before blasting off for the International Space Station (ISS) on SpaceX Falcon 9 topped with a Crew Dragon spacecraft at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, in Cape Canaveral, Florida, U.S., Jan. 18, 2024.

Walter Villadei of Italy, greets the crowd before blasting off on SpaceX Falcon 9 topped with a Crew Dragon spacecraft.

Alper Gezeravci of Türkiye of Axiom Mission 3, greets the crowd before blasting off for the International Space Station (ISS) on SpaceX Falcon 9.

Marcus Wandt of Sweden greets the crowd before blasting off.

After being awarded the title of "First Turkish Astronaut," the first words of Alper Gezeravcı during his space journey within the Axiom-3 (Ax-3) program, recorded as "The future is in the skies," raised curiosity about the first expressions of other astronauts while in space.

The launch took place at 4:49 p.m. U.S. time (12:49 a.m. Turkish time) from pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, marking the beginning of Turkish astronaut Alper Gezeravcı's journey into space.

SpaceX-affiliated Axiom Mission 3 was launched to the International Space Station with four astronauts from Türkiye, Sweden, Italy and Spain.