Turkey's first astronaut is poised to rocket into the record books as he prepares for a landmark space mission on January 9.
A SpaceX rocket will carry Alper Gezeravci, a 44-year-old fighter pilot with the Turkish Air Force, and three other crew to the International Space Station early in the new year.
He is due to spend about two weeks aboard the floating laboratory as part of the Axiom-3 (Ax-3) mission.
In 2022, Turkey signed a deal with Axiom Space, a Houston-based company that arranges space trips, with the aim of launching a citizen to coincide with its centenary celebrations.
Meet Turkey's first astronaut
Mr Gezeravci, who will serve as mission specialist on Ax-3, has a master's degree from the Air Force Institute of Technology at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio.
He has 15 years' flying experience on a number of different aircraft, including the F-16 fighter.
Apart from his military career, he also served as captain with Turkish Airlines for seven years.
“I am honoured and humbled to be the first ever Turkish astronaut to go to space,” Mr Gezeravci said during a media briefing last month.
“This mission is going to put a remarkable footprint on our prideful centenary. It will solidify the unity of Turkish people – a nation which was devastated by a recent natural disaster.”
Record-setter among international crew
Michael Lopez-Alegria is a Spanish-American who currently serves as the chief astronaut at Axiom Space, and will serve as commander on this mission.
He is an experienced astronaut having flown on the first private mission by Axiom Space and on five Nasa missions, and also served as commander on the ISS.
He holds the Nasa record for the most number of spacewalks, a total of 10, and the cumulative time spent spacewalking, which stands at 67 hours and 40 minutes.
Walter Villadei is a colonel in the Italian Air Force and will serve as the pilot on this mission.
In June, he flew on a Virgin Galactic space tourism flight, in which he carried out research work.
He has received cosmonaut training in Star City, Russia, as a Soyuz flight engineer and on the Russian segment systems of the ISS.
Marcus Wandt, a Swedish Air Force fight pilot, will serve as another mission specialist aboard Ax-3.
Furthering knowledge
The astronauts are set to carry out more than 30 science experiments on the orbiting laboratory assigned to them by researchers.
One of them includes the Cosmic Brain Organoids project, which investigates the effects of microgravity on neural stem cells.
It aims to identify novel cellular pathways so that doctors can develop new therapeutic interventions for neurodegenerative diseases.
The project will generate brain organoids, or small 3D aggregates of neural cells, using induced pluripotent stem cells derived from patients with Parkinson's Disease and primary progressive Multiple Sclerosis.
These organoids can be used to explore how the human nervous system develops or starts to degenerate.
Top investing tips for UAE residents in 2021
Build an emergency fund: Make sure you have enough cash to cover six months of expenses as a buffer against unexpected problems before you begin investing, advises Steve Cronin, the founder of DeadSimpleSaving.com.
Think long-term: When you invest, you need to have a long-term mindset, so don’t worry about momentary ups and downs in the stock market.
Invest worldwide: Diversify your investments globally, ideally by way of a global stock index fund.
Is your money tied up: Avoid anything where you cannot get your money back in full within a month at any time without any penalty.
Skip past the promises: “If an investment product is offering more than 10 per cent return per year, it is either extremely risky or a scam,” Mr Cronin says.
Choose plans with low fees: Make sure that any funds you buy do not charge more than 1 per cent in fees, Mr Cronin says. “If you invest by yourself, you can easily stay below this figure.” Managed funds and commissionable investments often come with higher fees.
Be sceptical about recommendations: If someone suggests an investment to you, ask if they stand to gain, advises Mr Cronin. “If they are receiving commission, they are unlikely to recommend an investment that’s best for you.”
Get financially independent: Mr Cronin advises UAE residents to pursue financial independence. Start with a Google search and improve your knowledge via expat investing websites or Facebook groups such as SimplyFI.
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Gertrude Bell's life in focus
A feature film
At one point, two feature films were in the works, but only German director Werner Herzog’s project starring Nicole Kidman would be made. While there were high hopes he would do a worthy job of directing the biopic, when Queen of the Desert arrived in 2015 it was a disappointment. Critics panned the film, in which Herzog largely glossed over Bell’s political work in favour of her ill-fated romances.
A documentary
A project that did do justice to Bell arrived the next year: Sabine Krayenbuhl and Zeva Oelbaum’s Letters from Baghdad: The Extraordinary Life and Times of Gertrude Bell. Drawing on more than 1,000 pieces of archival footage, 1,700 documents and 1,600 letters, the filmmakers painstakingly pieced together a compelling narrative that managed to convey both the depth of Bell’s experience and her tortured love life.
Books, letters and archives
Two biographies have been written about Bell, and both are worth reading: Georgina Howell’s 2006 book Queen of the Desert and Janet Wallach’s 1996 effort Desert Queen. Bell published several books documenting her travels and there are also several volumes of her letters, although they are hard to find in print. Original documents are housed at the Gertrude Bell Archive at the University of Newcastle, which has an online catalogue.