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By Cho Jin-seo
Staff Reporter
The spaceship carrying Korea's first astronaut Yi So-yeon was successfully launched into space from Kazakhstan, setting a milestone in Korea's space exploration history.
At 8:16 p.m., Tuesday, the 49-meter rocket carrying Yi and two Russian cosmonauts blasted off from the launching pad at Baikonur Cosmodrome and roared into the clear blue sky above the central Asian plain. The successful launch made South Korea the 37th country to send a person into space and second to have a female astronaut from Asia.
When the Soyuz spaceship reached orbit ― about 240 kilometers above the earth ― in just 10 minutes, the staff at the cosmodrome celebrated the success by applauding. The celebratory mood spread to the Seoul City Hall Plaza, where hundreds of citizens including President Lee Myung-bak watched the event on a giant screen.
The crew will now have to wait in the tight compartment for two more days until the spaceship docks at the International Space Station at around 10 p.m., Thursday.
``I will return safely,'' she told reporters in front of the Cosmonaut Hotel, riding the bus to the launch pad. The camera inside the spaceship's cabin showed she remained lively during the launch.
President Lee hoped that the event will be a stepping stone for South Korea's ambitions to become a space power.
``This will give a new dream to each of 50 million South Koreans,'' he said at the plaza. ``This launch opened the era of space science. It will help Korea become one of seven leading nations in 10 years.''
South Korea has been preparing for the launch of its own unmanned rocket in December at a newly built spaceport on a southwestern island. Furthermore, it hopes to send an unmanned probe to moon by 2020.
The Soyuz rocket is controlled by two Russian pilots Sergey Volkov and Oleg Kononenko. Yi, a 29-year-old bio scientist, is on board as a researcher, with a mission to conduct various experiments in the ISS during her stay.
The astronaut project has drawn high anticipation from South Koreans, who enviously saw Japan and China send their own nationals into orbit. But skepticism remains as to whether it was worth 26 billion won of taxpayers' money to send Yi into space on a Russian spaceship. South Korea's general elections on Wednesday have also distracted the media's attention away from the space mission.
Another controversy rose last month when the Russian space authorities notified the exchange of roles between Yi and Ko San, who had been trained as the main astronaut candidate. Ko was stripped of his post for ``repeatedly violating regulations'' and was forced to give the role to Yi, who had been the backup.
Some suspected that Ko was spying for the Korean space agency. But both nations denied this and said it was his personal aspiration to learn more about the space project that led to the breaches of security regulations.
Yi and Ko were selected from among some 32,000 volunteer candidates in 2006, which included two Korea Times reporters. The candidates have gone through a series of physical, mental and intellectual tests conducted in Korea and in Russia.
Upon completion of the space mission, the couple will work as researchers at the Korea Aerospace Research Institute as well as acting as Korea's space ambassadors. The two will also share income from future TV commercials with the space agency, Ko told The Korea Times in January.
The return trip is scheduled for April 19. It will take only three hours and 23 minutes if things go by the plan, as the module will be accelerated by the Earth's gravity to a maximum velocity of 7.9 kilometers per second. Braking with three parachutes, the spaceship will slowly touchdown on the vast grasslands of Kazakhstan.
indizio@koreatimes.co.kr
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