Alper Gezeravcı: Turkiye's First Astronaut and Career

Alper Gezeravcı is an experienced pilot and engineer who symbolizes Turkiye's great step in space. Born in 1979 in Silifke district of Mersin, Gezeravcı spent his childhood in different cities of Turkiye's due to his father's profession. Gezeravcı graduated from the Istanbul Air Force Academy in Electronic Engineering and later completed his master's degree at the Air Force Institute of Technology located at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in the United States.

Gezeravcı, who served as a fighter pilot in the Turkish Air Force for 15 years, has experience flying many aircraft, including F-16s. In addition, he served as a captain-pilot in Turkish Airlines for seven years. Finally, Gezeravcı, who was appointed as the Standardization Squadron Academic Wing Commander at 10th Base Command Unit in Adana, performed important tasks such as standardization and evaluation of the fleet, preparation of training documents, conducting pilot pre-flight tests.

Gezeravcı, who is noted for his interest in outdoor sports and skills acquired from his military training, has attended various survival courses and performed different missions. Responding to the call for Turkiye's first manned space project, Gezeravcı managed to stand out from 36,000 candidates and successfully passed medical and psychological tests in Ankara and became Turkiye's representative in space. This journey is seen as an extension of his fascination with the sky since childhood and plays an important role in raising interest in the fields of space and engineering in Turkiy.