30-yr no-all-Soyuz-rookies tradition -- NOT

AP: By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV, Associated Press Writer
BAIKONUR, Kazakhstan - Smiling and confident, two Russians and an American
prepared for their first mission in a Russian Soyuz spacecraft - breaking
the nearly 30-year tradition of having at least one crewman with previous
experience in piloting the capsule.

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Dear APspacers!

Hey, enough, already.

Malenchenko and Musabyaev blasted off for Mir in mid-1994. Neither had been
in space before. None was a veteran of a Soyuz mission, or a long-term space
station mission. The crew did very well.

The previous all-rookies case, Kovalyonok and Ryumin in late 1977, saw a
docking failure and emergency landing. Not auspicious.

And you may quote me.