81.   A manned Russian spacecraft blasted off from here early Tuesday on a mission to hook up with the orbiting space station Mir, mission control said.

82.   Allen immediately checked with mission control and was told all its information showed the shuttle was running fine, said Nesbitt.

83.   As with his previous attempts, mission control for the flight will be located at Washinay, seven days a week, throughout the duration of the flight.

84.   Around half an hour later, a spokeswoman for mission control said that they had contacted the astronauts, who were feeling fine.

85.   This time, oxygen was not a concern, mission control said.

86.   Weems said mission control hoped conditions will improve during the launch widow that extends two and half hours after the initial time set for the liftoff.

87.   NASA spokesman John Weems said the cloud cover was a source of concern for mission control and that rain and thunderstorms poured over the launch pad early Wednesday.

88.   Multimillionaire balloonist Steve Fossett was expected to reach South Africa early Sunday, slightly faster than anticipated, his mission control here said Saturday.

89.   South African space tourist Mark Shuttleworth and his two fellow crew members entered the International Space Station on Saturday, according to pictures shown at Russian mission control.

90.   The Ariane rocket and its four satellites were blown up by mission control above the space centre when it veeered off course.