U.S. space tourist blasts off in Russian rocket

By Maria Golovnina

BAIKONUR, Kazakhstan (Reuters) - U.S. video game magnate Richard
Garriott blasted off into space aboard a Russian rocket on Sunday
watched by his father, a NASA astronaut who went into space at the
height of the Cold War.

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The Russian Soyuz TMA-13 spacecraft lifted off in clear weather from
the Baikonur Cosmodrome on the Kazakh steppes just after 1.00 p.m. (3
a.m. EDT).

A video game developer from Texas, Garriott paid $35 million to fly
into space alongside U.S. astronaut Michael Fincke and Russian
cosmonaut Yury Lonchakov.

Garriott's father, Owen, watched the blast off through binoculars on
an observation platform and Garriott's girlfriend, Kelly Miller, burst
into tears.

"I am very happy for him. It is one of the things he really wanted
to do," Miller said as others opened Champagne to celebrate the
successful launch.

"I can see he is really enjoying it like a little kid in the candy shop," Miller said.

Space officials said the Soyuz rocket had reached orbit safely and
would dock with the International Space Station in about two days.
"He made it, he made it into orbit. It is marvelous," said Owen
Garriott, a physicist who was selected as an astronaut by NASA for his
scientific background. He spent 60 days in space in 1973 and another
ten days in 1983.
After 10 days in space Garriott will return to Earth with the ISS's
former crew aboard a Soyuz re-entry vehicle, a three-person capsule
which has malfunctioned on its last two flights.

In April, a Soyuz capsule landed 420 km (260 miles) off course after
explosive bolts failed to detonate before re-entry, sending the craft
into a steep descent.

Last year, a Soyuz capsule carrying Malaysia's first astronaut also
made a so-called "ballistic" landing, similarly blamed on faulty bolts.

(Editing by Janet Lawrence)