The Salda Science Centre, the country’s 45th science centre and one focused on space, opened on 9 October 2026 at Burdur Mehmet Akif Ersoy University, in the Lake Salda area of south-western Türkiye, announced TÜBİTAK, the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Türkiye.
The centre has two themed exhibitions, «Facing Mars» and «Rocket Area», plus a workshop called «Beyond the Horizon», where visitors learn by doing and by looking closely. Lake Salda was chosen because its geological formations resemble Mars’s Jezero Crater and it contains carbonate minerals that help study the planet’s past and possible traces of life.
The opening was attended by Turkish astronauts Alper Gezeravcı, Tuva Cihangir Atasever and Gökhan Erdem, along with foreign astronauts who were in Antalya for the International Astronautical Congress. On the same day, a National Technology Workshop opened at the university, with CNC machines, a lathe, 3D printers and a 3D scanner, to prepare young people for science competitions.
The project was led by the Ministry of Industry and Technology with TÜBİTAK, the Burdur governorate and the university. The workshop is part of a plan to create 100 such workshops across the country’s 81 provinces.
