TR Minister of Industry and Technology Mehmet Fatih Kacır and Alper Gezeravcı, the first Turkish astronaut sent to space within the scope of the Turkish National Space Program, attended the Youth Meeting program held at Dokuz Eylül University (DEÜ) Faculty of Law Conference Hall.
Türkiye MADE ITS MARK ON HISTORY IN THE DEFENSE INDUSTRY
Stating that they organized 100 big Teknofests in memory of the 3th anniversary of the Republic of Turkey, Minister Kacır said that Turkey left its mark on history in the defense industry. Stating that there are entrepreneurs working in the field of aviation in Turkey, but the history of aviation has almost been turned into a history of failed stories, Kacır said, “In the 2000s, when a solid will paved the way for all these works and trusted the children of its own nation, Turkish engineers, scientists and technicians will meet the needs of Turkey.” When he said that, the pages of a brand new success story began to open. Turks have left their signatures on the sky with Anka, Aksungur, Akıncı, Hürjet, Atak, Gökbey, Kızılelma, Kaan. Our goal, hope and dream is to accelerate similar successes in all fields of technology in Turkey, with your help. "For this purpose, we have been organizing the world's largest technology festivals for 5 years," he said.
“WE AIM TO TAKE IT TO ADVANCED LEVELS”
Stating that Turkey started step by step projects regarding satellite production in the 2000s, Minister Kacır said, “First, we participated in joint production of the BILSAT imaging satellite. Then we produced the RASAT imaging satellite locally. Then we produced the Göktürk imaging satellite locally. And ultimately, we managed to develop and produce the high-resolution imaging satellite İMECE locally and nationally, including its electro-optical camera, reaction wheel, star trackers, all its critical subsystems and communication devices. And on the 100th anniversary of the Republic, we sent İMECE into space and we are currently benefiting from İMECE. Now we are taking this goal one level higher. We will send our first national communications satellite, TÜRKSAT 6-A, into space in the next three or four months and we will be one of the 10 countries in the world with this capability. All of these will actually enable Turkey to get a larger share of the space economy, which exceeds 600 billion dollars annually, in the coming period. All these projects will be projects that will ensure that our qualified human resources and human capital work for Turkey and continue their lives in Turkey. "Hopefully, we aim to take this to further levels," he said.
“WE HAVE TO PURSUE SCIENCE”
Explaining the candidacy and selection process before being sent to space, the first Turkish astronaut Alper Gezeravcı explained the training process that continued in Turkey and America after being selected to be sent to space; He pointed out that the experiments they prepared to carry out in space were not randomly prepared experiments. Noting that Turkey has been going to Antarctica for 8 years and Turkish scientists have carried out various studies there, Gezeravcı said, “Friends, wherever science is, we have to go there. We have to pursue science. We took the algae that scientists doing research in Antarctica brought to Turkey into space. By cycling micro-sized algae with filters inside a life support unit, we took the carbon dioxide inside the station, separated the carbon from it, converted it into oxygen, and gave it to the system. While doing this, we did not do it with routine carbohydrates in the environment. We gave it five times more concentrated than what we normally encounter in the environment. "By pushing the system capacity to the maximum level, we obtained oxygen from five times concentrated carbon dioxide," he said.
