Our country is now preparing to embark on a space adventure in the full sense with an announcement published in the past weeks.
A citizen of the Republic of Turkiye will stay aboard the International Space Station for 10 days as part of the celebrations for 100th anniversary of the Turkish Republic according to this announcement.
This news was both amazing and proud for us. Because even if you met all the conditions to become an astronaut or go to space, you had to be a citizen of one of the countries that went to space before. Now on the 100th anniversary of our Turkish Republic, perhaps, a person who come by Space Camp Turkiye, who is a space enthusiast and experienced in space sciences will represent our country in the international space station.
Space Camp Turkey visit of TUA Board of Directors and Agency President Serdar Hüseyin Yıldırım.
How did all this happen?
First of all, the Turkish Space Agency, which is one of the magnificent initiatives of the Ministry of Industry and Technology of the Republic of Turkiye, has taken the most important step in the realization of this dream by making an amazing effort in the last 2 years. At the same time, commercial space travel, which has developed in recent years, has made it much less cheaper and easier to send astronauts to space. When all these possibilities arose, humanity's greatest dream spacehas become accessible to Turkish citizens.
So, what kind of contributions can space studies offer to a country?
Considering Earth's gravity or other factors, some studies that cannot be done on the Earth's surface can be done in environments such as a space station where gravity is at a minimum level, obviously, but it is not just that.
Many technological tools that we use today or many devices that make our lives easier have not been yet known by the people in the world when space studies began.
Although some innovations are attributed to developing technology, in fact, many technological tools or materials we use today have been developed for the necessary needs thanks to space studies and then offered to the use of humanity due to their benefits. Perhaps this is the most important contribution of manned space exploration to humanity. Devices that are discovered for space studies and then made available to humanity are called spinoffs.
There are many spinoff examples that we use today. For example, invented by a group of NASA engineers, the complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) image sensor has become NASA's only ubiquitous byproduct and revolutionized the digital imaging industry. This revolution made the cell phone cameras we use today, the DSLR cameras, the high-definition videos captured and as well as the social media possible.
Another useful spinoff is infrared ear thermometers. Astronomy technology, once used to measure the temperature of distant stars and planets, is now used as a high-speed medical thermometer to measure people's body temperature. Based on infrared technology developed by NASA, the handheld thermometer measures body temperature using the energy emitted from the eardrum to record temperature without touching any mucous membranes.
These two examples are just two of the grains of sand on the beach. By this means, NASA has become not only an institution that sends people into space, but also a technology center where thousands of inventions were born. In the future, thanks to theTurkish Space Agency and TÜBİTAK, engineers and entrepreneurs with different perspectives in our country can develop these kind of technologies and turn our country into a center where many new technologies are born.
One of those engineers or entrepreneurs may be reading this blog, who knows?
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On September 12, 1962, at the Rice University stadium in Texas, the following words of US President John F. Kennedy would mark the next 10 years, and humankind would set foot on the lunar surface for the first time: “We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard”
This speech began to form the west side of breakthroughs in space in many ways. In the east, the Soviet Union sent the first human, Yuri Gagarin, to space nearly a year before this speech and took the lead in the space race. The studies on the subject began quickly. But everything was still very new. Some special situations, producing special clothes suitable for space, and docking with each other in the space environment, which is called rendezvous would be learned step by step. The project of taking the first American into space, called Mercury, had come to an end, and 6 American astronauts were sent into space. The studies began for a new program to learn about all these issues, to discover different subjects, and find solutions to problems. The name of the program was "Gemini".
Mercury Program Crew
Astronauts, who were sent into space one by one in the Mercury program, were sent into space in pairs in a capsule in the Gemini program. During this program, NASA gained experience in topics such as extravehicular activities, docking-undocking, living in space for a long time, and NASA was almost ready to go to the Moon by the end of the program.
Ed White - Gemini Program - First Space Walk
The influence of Wernher von Braun, a German rocket engineer, was incredible in the program, which was called the "Apollo Program". Braun was already working for NASA on powerful rocket engines and bodies. However, the height of the rocket he was going to make now would be exactly 110 meters, and after 4 days of the journey in outer space, the rocket would carry human beings to the Moon.
Dr. Wernher von Braun - İsmail Akbay (The first Turkish Engineer to work at NASA)
The Saturn rockets consisted of 3 different groups. These; Saturn I, which was used for test flights, Saturn IB, which was a modification of Saturn I for the Apollo program and which would later carry the first American space station Skylab to space, and Saturn V, the 110-meter-long rocket carrying human beings to the Moon.
Saturn V Rocket
On January 27, 1967, there was great excitement at Kennedy Space Center. There was a Saturn IB rocket standing on the launch pad and the Apollo capsule atop the rocket. Astronauts were making final preparations for Apollo 1 which was scheduled for February 21 as the first mission of the Apollo Program.
Three astronauts, Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee, entered the Apollo capsule and began their work. However, since it was the first flight of the program, there were some problems. Even, Gus Grissom said to his friends at ground control due to a malfunction caused by the microphone, "How are we going to get to the Moon if we can't communicate between two or three buildings?” he lamented. A much bigger problem awaited them a few minutes later.
Since the capsule was not yet on a real mission, the capsule was completely filled with oxygen instead mixed with nitrogen. Since the oxygen can cause other materials that burn to ignite more easily and to burn far more rapidly, a tiny spark inside the Apollo 1 capsule turned into a fire. Although there were those who tried to help, the inwardly opening cover of the capsule could not be opened due to the pressure created by the fire inside, unfortunately, 3 professional astronauts lost their lives.
Apollo 1 Crew
Deke Slayton, the executive of the space programs, announced after the event that the missions will be carried out unmanned until everything is sure. Afterwards, all missions were carried out unmanned until the Apollo 7 mission. Astronauts orbited the Earth with Apollo 7, orbited the Moon with Apollo 8, and tested the Moon landing module on Apollo 9. In Apollo 10, almost everything was completed except landing on the Moon, the astronauts returned back to Earth within 15 kilometers of the Moon's surface as a part of the mission.
Apollo Mission Patches
On July 16, 1969, three astronauts Neil Armstrong, Edwin Aldrin and Michael Collins took their places in the Command Service Module. When the clock hit 13:32 (GMT), the countdown was completed and the 110-meter Saturn V rocket started the journey of 384,000 km with all its glory and roar. They reached lunar orbit on July 19. Soon after, Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin moved on to the Lunar Landing Module, which was called "Eagle" for that mission, to become the first humans on the lunar surface. On July 20, 1969, at 20:17 GMT, the Eagle landed on the Moon's surface.
The words of Neil Armstrong, who took the first step on the moon, announced the magnificent achievement of mankind to the universe: "One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind..."
Happy 53rd anniversary of this giant leap of mankind.
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The Partner Schools Science Program (PSSP), which started in 2002 and set out with the goal of global friendship, is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year.
Within the year-long program, participants from different countries take part in an international project and receive STEAM-based education on space sciences. This education may even affect the future career plans of the participants. Thanks to the Space Camp Turkey Group Manager, Mr. Tolga Yıldırım, the program took its current form over the years, and has been continuing for 20 years without deviating from its goal.
Within the program, an impossible feat was achieved with the technological conditions of that day, and 179 video conferences were held among NASA, partner school, and Space Camp Turkey.
Although NASA's Digital Learning Network system was shut down in 2015, Space Camp Turkey, which took quick action under the leadership of Mr. Tolga Yıldırım, established its own Digital Learning Center in the same year. The center has held more than 1,400 video conferences since 2015 with NASA-based educational packages and aims to increase this number to over 2000 with the participation of different countries.
The program brought students together from different countries such as the USA, England, Italy, and Poland with Turkish students in the field of space sciences and STEAM for one academic year. Afterwards, students from partner schools had the opportunity to meet face-to-face at Space Camp Turkey during the 6-day summer camp program, which was held under the name of E-Pal week. There was an utterly different excitement in the 2 different E-Pal weeks held this year. The 20th anniversary of the program was celebrated with great enthusiasm.
Students, who carried out researches and projects on the subjects they decided together with their teachers among from 10 training packages such as Mission Patches, Toys in Space, Solar System Vacation, and Planet Hunters, visited Space Camp Turkey on the weeks June 19-25 and June 26 - July 2.
As part of the events, the participants prepared their stands and gave presentations in order to show the studies they carried out throughout the year to other PSSP participants. Among the projects, there were many futuristic and realistic projects such as magnificent mission patches, toys that can be played with easily in a microgravity environment, and future space station models.
Arno den Toom, a plant biotechnologists and Space Camp Turkey alumni gave a magnificent presentation on growing plants in outer space, on the Moon, and on Mars, to the PSPP participants at Space Camp Turkey.
In the studies carried out with the Turkish Radio Amateurs Association (Izmir Branch), presentations were given about the amateur radio station used in the space station and amateur radio. Afterwards, participants from different countries had the opportunity to establish a radio connection with amateur radio operators in their own countries. During this amazing activity, the campers learned how to use the radio and how to become an amateur radio operator.
During the Special Events Night, prepared for campers to introduce their own cultures to the other campers from different countries, campers both had fun and experienced cultural exchange through local dances of Poland, presentation of cities of Romania, the history of Slovenia and Turkish traditions.
Celebrating the 20th Anniversary of PSSP at the barbecue party, the last event held before graduation, the campers had fun with today's hit songs and local songs, and had the opportunity to exchange small souvenirs they brought with them.
Participants, receiving a certificate of participation in the Partner Schools Science Program and the certificate of participation to Space Camp Turkey during graduation ceremony, were also awarded with team awards and individual awards. Once again, we congratulate all of our campers who participated in the Partner Schools Science Program for one academic year and graduated from the program by participating in the special E-Pal Week held at Space Camp Turkey!
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The countdown is complete! Here are the top 5 data from the James Webb Space Telescope!
The adventure, which started with the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope in 1990, continues today with the James Webb Space Telescope (Webb), which is much larger than Hubble and launched from French Guiana with the Ariane 5 rocket on December 25, 2021. We will be able to see in much greater detail what we see with Hubble and find definitive answers to questions about the nature of the universe. Webb, an international effort between NASA, ESA (European Space Agency) and CSA (Canadian Space Agency), was sent into space as a magnificent tool to investigate space objects that have appeared since the first formation of the universe.
Let's take a look at these data one by one.
1. Data: Deep Field: SMACS 0723 (The Deepest Infrared Image of Universe Yet)
This initial data was the most detailed infrared image ever taken of the farthest reaches of the universe. This stunningly detailed image of the SMACS 0723 galaxy cluster made history as the telescope's first deep-field study.
The telescope's advanced infrared cameras have helped the scientists to get a very clear view of the thousands of galaxies in the cluster. Although the image above seems like a huge area, it represents the size of a tiny grain of sand in a desert on Earth in our universe.
This image is actually an image of the cluster 4.6 billion years ago. Because of the finite speed of light, when you gaze up into the night sky, you are actually looking into the past. For example, the Sun is approximately 150 million kilometers away from the Earth, and according to Sun's distance to Earth in light year, every time we look at the Sun, we actually see 8.3 minutes before that moment. The massive mass of the SMACS 0723 galaxy cluster works like a gravitational lens, bending and stretching light from more distant galaxies. This is called the gravitational lensing effect. Due to this effect, you can see galaxies flattened at the edges of the center.
As Webb searches for the universe's earliest galaxies, scientists will soon start to discover more about the galaxies' masses, ages, histories, and compositions.
2. Data: Exoplanet: WASP-96 B (Steamy Atmosphere of Exoplanet in Detail)
Webb also collects information about exoplanets that our campers research in the training package called Planet Hunters during the distance learning programs.
Webb spotted water marks in the atmosphere of planet WASP-96 B, a hot gas giant orbiting a Sun-like star, and found spectacular evidence of clouds and fog forming on the planet.
This discovery, based on small variations in the brightness of light tones from the planet, thereby identifying the presence of certain gas molecules, is the most detailed study in this field to date. It also confirms Webb's incredible ability to probe atmospheres which are hundreds of light-years away.
3. Data: Stellar Death: Planetary Nebula NGC 3132 (Dying Star’s Final ‘Performance’)
The Southern Ring nebula, photographed by the Hubble Space Telescope in 1998, is actually a nebula formed by the explosion of a medium-mass star. Although the dim star, in the center of this image has reached the end of its life, spewing gas and dust in all directionsfor millions of years, these gases and dusts can combine to form one or more planets within the nebula.
Two cameras aboard Webb obtained the most recent photograph of this planetary nebula, officially known as the Southern Ring Nebula and cataloged as NGC 3132. The nebula is about 2,500 light-years away from the Earth.
4. Data: Interacting Galaxies: Stephan's Quintet
Webb's powerful infrared vision and extremely high resolution cameras reveal details never seen before in this galaxy group. The image is dotted with glowing clusters of millions of young stars and starburst regions where new star birth takes place. Although called the quintet, only four of these galaxies actually interact with each other. The fifth and leftmost galaxy are closer to the Earth and do not interact with the others. The leftmost galaxy is only 40 million light-years away, while the other four are nearly 290 million light-years away.
This massive mosaic is Webb's largest image to date. It contains over 150 million pixels, which covers about one-fifth of the Moon's diameter and is made up of nearly 1,000 different image files. Webb's findings shed new light on how galactic interactions may have shaped galaxy evolution in the early universe.
5. Data: Star Forming Region: NGC 3324 In Carina Nebula
This landscape of "mountains" and "valleys" which covered by the shining stars is actually the young star-forming region known as NGC 3324 near the Carina Nebula. This image, captured with infrared light by the James Webb Space Telescope, reveals previously invisible stellar birth fields for the first time.
While this stunning image of Webb's "Cosmic Cliffs" looks like a landscape image of steep mountains on Earth, they are the boundary of NGC 3324's massive void in reality, with what appears to be a hilly area about 7 light-years high in this image. High ultraviolet radiation and stellar winds from massive, hot, young stars above the area shown in this image created the recess in the left-middle portion of the image.
As we mentioned at the beginning, if you consider the universe as all of the beaches on the Earth, this is maybe a mineral molecule which is located in a grain of sand. In the future, we will learn more, be surprised more…
[description] => The countdown is complete! The first data from James Webb reached planet Earth on July 12, 2022! [keywords] => James Webb Space Telescope, Webb Telescope, Webb, space objects from webb, the farthest reaches of the universe, the furthest reaches of the universe, SMACS 0723, galaxy clusters, the southern ring nebula, NGC 3132, the quintet, NGC 3324, James webb data, webb data [extra] => [{"key":"","value":""}] [created_date] => 2022-07-13 17:00:19 [updated_date] => 2022-07-14 10:09:50 [lang] => en [active] => 1 [search] => 1 [facebook_piksel] => ) [3] => stdClass Object ( [id] => 855 [parent] => 23 [order] => 4 [lang_id] => 7d0ab23532f5de319ee27b05f2f5d4a5 [title] => The First Manned Space Mission Of Türkiye [subtitle] => 24.05.2022 [header_img] => 0 [list_img] => upload/media/en_list_img7.jpg [summary] => The very first Türk to go to space in 2023, the 100th anniversary of the Republic of Türkiye. [content] =>
Turkish space traveler will be sent to International Space Station for scientific researches. One of the 2 candidates to be selected will stay at the station for 10 days.
Applicant qualifications to be the Turkish space traveler;
*Be younger than 45 years old,
*Possess a bachelor's degree from the faculty of education in the fields of Engineering, Physical Sciences, Medicine and/or Fundamental Sciences,
Applications will be accepted on "uzaya.gov.tr" by 8.23pm June 23, 2022. Verification will be requested through additional information and documents from the candidates who pass the first application phase. Candidates will obtain health tests, be examined and will take English language proficiency tests. The candidate number will be reduced to 2 at the end of all these processes. One of these two candidates will be the first Turk to go to the International Space Station!
[description] => The very first Turk to go to space in 2023, the 100th anniversary of the Republic of Türkiye. [keywords] => The First Manned Space Mission Of Türkiye, Turkish space traveler, International Space Station, first Turk to go to space, [extra] => [{"key":"","value":""}] [created_date] => 2022-05-24 10:18:53 [updated_date] => 2022-05-24 11:23:17 [lang] => en [active] => 1 [search] => 1 [facebook_piksel] => ) [4] => stdClass Object ( [id] => 849 [parent] => 23 [order] => 5 [lang_id] => 2b8fc9d46f1933ba20766ec8b393fbab [title] => AX-1 Mission and Its Importance [subtitle] => 05.06.2022 [header_img] => 0 [list_img] => upload/media/ax1-blog.png [summary] => With the acceleration of technology and space studies, there has been another first in the recent days. Axiom Space, which is not affiliated with a public space agency such as NASA, ESA, ROSCOSMOS, successfully completed its first mission, AX-1, to the International Space Station with its 4 astronauts. [content] =>
AX-1 Mission & Its Importance
The Astronauts Flew in This Mission
The Purpose of the Mission
The Importance of the Mission
Astronaut Training for AX-1 Mission
The Astronaut From the AX-1 Crew Who Visited Space Camp Turkey
Who were on this mission?
Mission Commander Michael López-Alegría, a former NASA astronaut, also serves as vice president of Axiom Space. Larry Connor, who is on duty as a pilot, is both an entrepreneur and an activist from Ohio. In this mission, Connor both dived into the ocean in the same year and went to the Space Station afterwards. Eytan Stibbe, one of the mission specialists, previously served as a pilot in the Israeli air force and his expenses going into space were covered by the Israel Space Agency. Stibbe also become the second Israeli astronaut to go to space and the first Israeli astronaut to visit the International Space Station. Another Mission Specialist, Mark Pathy, is the CEO of MAVRIK Corporation.
So, what was this mission for?
The main purpose of the mission was for a private company to perform a mission to the space station using the launch facilities of another private company called SpaceX. The work on the space station was also continued with some particular experiments carried out during the mission. The purpose of this mission actually escalates us to a very different level.
Why is the mission so important?
Although the mission seems like just 4 astronauts going to space, it actually shows us that a new era has begun for the International Space Station. In this case, companies will be able to train their own astronauts under the supervision of agencies such as NASA or ROSCOSMOS, and after the necessary fee is paid, the International Space Station will become an experimental center for all people. All these can be done without the need for a country, contribution or membership. For example, after making the necessary investments, a company from Turkey will be able train their astronauts and send them to the International Space Station, with the help of space agencies. In addition, first-hand results can be obtained for experiments that can only be done in space, regardless of the state or an agency.
So, what kind of training was given to these astronauts?
The astronauts on the AX-1 mission underwent 700 to 1000 hours of training over 10 months for safety, health, space station systems, and launch processes before launch. In fact, NASA has even upgraded its training standards in this process by updating its training procedures for the AX-1 mission. Since space is both a beautiful and a very risky environment, spending even 1 minute on the space station requires astronauts to take these trainings.
Which face is familiar to us on this mission?
Mission commander Michael López-Alegría is a much more experienced former NASA astronaut than the other 3 crew members. López-Alegría, a Spanish-American, visited the International Space Station aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavor on the mission STS-113 in 2002. After 20 years, astronaut López-Alegría, had an opportunity to visit the space station with the SpaceX Dragon capsule named "Endeavor", which is also the name of the shuttle he went to space in 2002. Also he visited Space Camp Turkey in 2013 and made an unforgettable presentation on space travel to our campers who participated in our6-Day Galactic Summer Camp.
Space tourism continues to develop day by day and becomes cheaper than before. Do you think we will be able to see countries in space that have never been to space before?
[description] => With the acceleration of technology and space studies, there has been another first in the recent days. Axiom Space, which is not affiliated with a public space agency such as NASA, ESA, ROSCOSMOS, successfully completed its first mission, AX-1, to the International Space Station with its 4 astronauts. [keywords] => Axiom Space, Ax-1 mission, what is ax1, the importance of ax1 mission, why ax1 mission is important, ax-1 mission crew, the purpose of the ax-1 mission, astronaut training for ax-1 mission, Michael Lopez-Alegria, Larry Connor, Eytan Stibbe, Mark Pathy, international space station, space tourism, will space station be used in future, can anyone go to space, what kind of training ax-1 crew had, space travel [extra] => [{"key":"","value":""}] [created_date] => 2022-05-05 17:17:54 [updated_date] => 2022-05-13 17:52:30 [lang] => en [active] => 1 [search] => 1 [facebook_piksel] => ) )
53 yeras ago today; the words of Neil Armstrong, who took the first step on the moon, announced the magnificent achievement of mankind to the universe: "One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind..."
The Partner Schools Science Program was established in 2002 by our late Founder, Kaya Tuncer, and ESBAŞ Chairwoman of the Board, Mary Tuncer, in order to bring children from all over the world together with Turkish students.
With the acceleration of technology and space studies, there has been another first in the recent days. Axiom Space, which is not affiliated with a public space agency such as NASA, ESA, ROSCOSMOS, successfully completed its first mission, AX-1, to the International Space Station with its 4 astronauts.
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