14 April 2022; MEMO: A chef in Turkey launched a kebab into the stratosphere on Tuesday, to coincide with the International Day of Human Flight marking the 61st anniversary of the first human space flight made by Soviet Yuri Gagarin.
According to the Daily Sabah, Yasar Aydin – who owns a kebab restaurant, and local entrepreneur and space engineering student Idris Albayrak launched the eponymous Adana kebab into the stratosphere, becoming Turkey's "first export to space".
The "pipe" variant of the kebab as it is known is a new trendy dish in the southern Adana province, where spicy kebabs and livers are wrapped around a steel pipe instead of the traditional skewers to keep them juicier.
Using a helium weather balloon and a special box fitted with cameras and a tracking device, the duo launched the dish into the skies of Adana, reportedly reaching some 38 kilometres before falling into the sea off the coast of Hatay, around 121 kilometres away from the launch site. The kebab was retrieved from the sea, mostly intact.
"I think aliens sent it back because it had too much pepper. I will send a dish with less pepper next time," Aydin joked as he retrieved the box, vowing to continue his efforts to shoot the famed dish further into space.
"I am happy to promote our city and our cuisine. I love being first in something," he told reporters watching the launch and return.
In other space news, Turkey's moon mission AYAP-1 has successfully tested its hybrid boosting system (HIS) the Turkish Space Agency (TUA) announced yesterday.
Turkey plans to send a rover to the moon by the end of the decade, using a rocket engine developed by Turkish company Delta V Space Technologies that will first fly to the moon in a test mission next year.
The mission is part of a wider ten-year space programme unveiled by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan last year.
