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BAIKONUR, Kazakhstan (April 26) - A Russian rocket trailing a tail of fire carried an American-Russian duo toward the international space station on Saturday, in the first manned launch since the Columbia shuttle tragedy.

The Soyuz TMA-2, carrying U.S. astronaut Edward Lu and cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko, blasted off from Russia's Baikonur cosmodrome, deep in the Kazakh steppe, with a thunderous roar, its fiery tail breaking up the blue, cloud-scattered sky. It sailed into orbit nine minutes later.

Saturday's launch of the 130-foot Soyuz, the latest version of the world's longest-serving manned spacecraft, was heavy with symbolism as the first flight since the Columbia disintegrated over Texas on Feb. 1, killing all seven astronauts on board.

The launch is intended to keep space exploration going despite the tragedy, which led to the grounding of the U.S. shuttle program.

''It's a kind of mix of joy, relief and sheer pride,'' said Lu's fiancee, Christine Romero, following the launch. ''After the tragedy we've endured, we just feel so proud to be part of this. We are riding on their coattails.''

Lu's brother, Rick, also watched as his sibling left Earth. ''It is exhilarating. My heart is still beating,'' he said.

According to Russian tradition, it is bad luck for family members to attend the launch and none of Malenchenko's relatives were present.

Russian flight director Vladimir Solovyov told reporters at Mission Control outside Moscow that all had gone well.

''They flew up normally. The parameters of the orbit are perfectly normal. ... The cosmonauts are feeling well,'' Solovyov said.

The Columbia disaster grounded the U.S. shuttle program and raised questions about what would happen to the space station, which is heavily reliant on the U.S. vehicles.

Usually just a reserve, safety vehicle, the Soyuz - based loosely on the same technology that sent Yuri Gagarin into orbit in 1961 - is now Earth's only link with the $60 billion space outpost. NASA and the Russian space program are relying on it to get the three-man crew on the station home, and ferry their replacements.

Lu and Malenchenko had planned to ride to the station on board the shuttle Atlantis with another Russian cosmonaut, Alexander Kaleri. But Kaleri was bumped from the mission because the smaller Soyuz has to carry supplies instead of a third crew member.

Both NASA and Russian space officials have said Russia's willingness to take up the slack is testament to the new era of cooperation between their agencies, once fierce competitors.

''Basically it came to this: Right now, there is only one ship that can take a crew to the International Space Station. Russia has to do it,'' said Sergei Gorbunov, spokesman for Rosaviakosmos, the Russian space agency.

At Russian Mission Control, Joel Montalbano, a NASA flight director for the ISS, said that Saturday's flight was ''a tribute to the robustness of the ISS partnership.''

''On a day like this, you see the commitment of the international community to pursuing space travel,'' NASA deputy director Frederick Gregory said at Baikonur.

Lu and Malenchenko are to arrive Monday at the space station, some 220 miles above Earth. They will replace astronauts Kenneth Bowersox and Donald Pettit and cosmonaut Nikolai Budarin, who have been in space since November. Those three will return to Earth in early May on another Soyuz after giving Lu and Malenchenko a weeklong tour.

Lu and Malenchenko's expedition will be the first time the space station is inhabited by two people, instead of three.

Solovyov said the crew would not be able to carry out all the scientific experiments originally planned.

Montalbano said the opportunities for research would also be limited by the fact that the shuttle was the main delivery vehicle for equipment. Now the station is being supplied by the smaller Russian Progress cargo ship.

Before climbing aboard the Soyuz, Lu and Malenchenko had their spacesuits checked for leaks behind a glass wall that keeps out germs. Asked how he was feeling, Lu gave a thumbs-up sign and said, ''Otlichno'' - Russian for ''excellent.''

Russian and U.S. experts got Expedition 7 ready in record time. Lu, already a veteran astronaut and a decent Russian speaker, had to brush up on his language skills and cram what is usually a yearlong training period into less than three months.

Though based on decades old technology, the Soyuz has a strong safety record; its last fatality dates was in 1971, when three cosmonauts died during re-entry.

Looking relaxed on the eve of his flight, Lu told journalists that space travel's latest victims would never be far from his mind on this mission. Sewn onto his spacesuit was a patch from the Columbia mission.

''We'll be thinking about them on the launch up and on the way down,'' Lu said.

AP-NY-04-26-03 0758EDT

Copyright 2003 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.
Explore the Symbolism of Manned Space Flights in an Important Article Appearing in the April Issue of Psychiatric Times


IRVINE, Calif., April 4 /PRNewswire/ -- Michael Jonathan Grinfeld examines society's psychological connection to manned space travel and responds to critics who question the need for the continuation of manned space flights after the recent tragic explosion of the Space Shuttle Columbia in the timely article, "The Last Frontier: Going Beyond the Limits," appearing in the April issue of Psychiatric Times and online at www.psychiatrictimes.com free of charge.

(Photo:  www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20011113/LATU036LOGO )  

This article comes at a very significant time, according to Psychiatric Times Editorial Director Christine Potvin.  "The risks involved in the space program have always been news in the popular press, but are especially relevant after the Columbia tragedy," commented Potvin.  She went on to say that this article will appeal to readers of Psychiatric Times because "it addresses this issue with a unique angle, focusing on aspects that are of particular interest to psychiatrists."

Grinfeld's article cites several experts in the field that are in favor of keeping manned space flights, due to their important symbolic elements.  The article argues that society has a deep emotional investment in astronauts, as they fill a void in each member of society.  It also points out that the international space station is a way to learn about human behavior, and getting along with different types of people and cultures on Earth.  According to the article, astronauts are important role models who provide children with lessons about life, and at the same time teach them to exceed the barriers of their own lives.

At the end of the article, Grinfeld considers the repercussions for society if critics are successful in preventing astronauts from ever again reaching beyond the boundaries of our Earth.  He quotes Richard Bloom, Ph.D., a professor of political and clinical psychology at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Prescott, Ariz., as saying that society would go through "almost a sense of mourning," in response to the elimination of manned space flights.

CME, Inc., a CMP Healthcare Media company, offers a wide range of informational and educational resources for primary care, mental health and neurology professionals.  Based in Irvine, California, CME, Inc. publishes Psychiatric Times and Geriatric Times, and produces a variety of annual congresses, weekend conferences, customized meeting series, multimedia home- study products and Web sites.  Other CMP Healthcare Media products include Diagnostic Imaging, BioMechanics and several healthcare business newsletters and reports.  For additional information, visit CME, Inc. online at www.cmeinc.com .

SOURCE  CME, Inc.

CO:  CME, Inc.; CMP Healthcare Media

www.prnewswire.com