WORLD : Space Station Crew Blasts Off
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MOSCOW — Two cosmonauts rocketed into space today to replace a two-man crew working aboard the orbiting Mir space station, Tass news agency announced.
The Soyuz TM-10 spacecraft carrying Lt. Col. Gennady Manakov, the flight commander, and engineer Gennady Strekalov was launched on schedule at 1:32 p.m. Moscow time from the Baikonur Space Center in Soviet Central Asia.
Manakov and Strekalov were expected to dock with the Mir after two days in orbit, Radio Moscow reported. They will replace cosmonauts Anatoly Solovyev and Alexander Balandin, who have been aboard the Mir since Feb. 11 and are scheduled to return to Earth on Aug. 9.
Manakov, 40, the commander of the 4 1/2-month mission, is making his first space flight. Strekalov, 49, is a veteran cosmonaut who is making his fourth flight.
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