Going to space with someone else's rocket

Turks are now in space…

Our dream has finally come true, and we have conquered space too!

Although our first space adventure dates all the way back to 1973. The first Turkish tourist, pardon, the first Turk to go to space was Turist Ömer.

Sadri Alışık had turned the planet Orin upside down.

After Turist Ömer, Arif also waved our flag in space. The character Arif, played by Cem Yılmaz, sold carpets to aliens and even fried sucuk on the planet G.O.R.A. He even fell in love with an alien girl and made himself a robot buddy!

Jokes aside, we are now truly in space. But if we talk about the cost of being in space and the benefit to us, we will see that our trip to space is no different from those in the movies.

Turkey's first astronaut, Alper Gezeravcı, went to space with the Ax-3 crew. The show part of it is great… He spun a pen to test gravity. He greeted the Turkish people with a live connection from space.

When our astronaut reminded us of the Great Leader Atatürk's words, "The future is in the skies," from space, all of our chests swelled with pride. We were moved...

But who is the real winner here?

Of course, it is the tourism company that organized this tourist trip, Axiom Space, and Elon Musk!

The launch was carried out with the Falcon 9 rocket owned by Elon Musk's company, SpaceX.

Ax-3 is the third space transport mission of the Houston-based company called Axiom Space…

It turned out that this trip cost 55 million dollars per person. That is 1.6 billion Turkish Liras. This corresponds to over 94 thousand minimum wages.

American engineer Dennis Tito, who had the honor of being the world's first tourist astronaut by staying in space for 8 days in 2001, achieved this by paying 20 million dollars.

In 2009, Guy Laliberte, the founder of Cirque du Soleil, spent 35 million dollars and joined the caravan of those traveling to the International Space Station. British billionaire Richard Branson became the owner of the title of "first billionaire to go to space" at the age of 70.

In other words, whoever paid the money ended up in space.

For example, we don't know if the British are proud because Branson took a tourist trip to space. But one thing we do know is that Branson paid for his own space trip.

Turkey's first space traveler, Alper Gezeravcı, will stay at the International Space Station for 14 days.

So, what will the first Turkish astronaut do during these 14 days?

He will observe 13 experiments determined by a commission consisting of experts from the Turkish Space Agency (TUA) and TÜBİTAK Space, which include studies that will contribute to the literature, ranging from cancer to immune cells, and from algae to propolis.

What will Gezeravcı's role be in these scientific studies? Because our first space traveler is actually a pilot, not a scientist.

According to information on Axiom Space's website, Gezeravcı completed his undergraduate education in Electronics Engineering at the Istanbul Air Force Academy. He also received a master's degree at the Air Force Institute of Technology at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.

Gezeravcı, who served as a fighter pilot in the Turkish Air Force, has 15 years of flight experience in many aircraft, including the F-16. He also worked as a captain pilot at Turkish Airlines for seven years.

Now let's think about it: the American continent was discovered in 1492. Last summer, Mr. Süleyman and his wife, Mrs. Hanife, paid 3500 euros per person for a cruise ship and went on a tourist trip to the American continent… Did we make such a fuss because they set foot in America?

No offense, but this space trip was unfortunately exactly a tourist trip.

However, it will be etched in our memory just like a Turk climbing Everest for the first time or crossing the English Channel for the first time.

So, have we gone to space now?

'No'

To go to space, we should have developed the technology for it, built our own rocket, and been controlling it technologically from Turkey. Then we could have said that Turks are in space.

Of course, we should be proud of the world's most expensive tourist trip!

But let me tell you what we are left with at the end of the day;

"Dude, we're in space again with friends one day..."

"Son, there's a plot of land on the dark side of the Moon, I'm thinking of snapping it up cheap and building a summer house there."

"Honestly, there's no good in earthling girls anymore. I'm looking for an alien," and the jokes that started on social media will go on and on. It seems that is what will be left for us...