A Russian cargo shipment blasted off from Kazakhstan early Friday, carrying equipment and supplies for the U.S.-Russian crew of the international space station, where food was running low. The Progress M-51 took off from the Russian-leased Baikonur cosmodrome in the steppes of Kazakhstan at 1:19 a.m. Moscow time (2219GMT Thursday) and entered orbit 200 kilometers (124 miles) above the earth about nine minutes later, Russia's Federal Space Agency said in a statement. The spaceship was scheduled to arrive at the station Sunday morning with about 2.5 tons of food, water, fuel and research equipment for Russian cosmonaut Salizhan Sharipov and U.S. astronaut Leroy Chiao, who are in their second month on the station. Russian and American space officials were alarmed earlier this month to learn that the two had gone through so much food on the station. NASA officials said there was enough food to last seven to 14 days beyond Dec. 25 if the supply shipment did not arrive, and called the situation «critical.» The crew has already been ordered to cut back on meals because food is running short. A Russian Space Agency spokesman has said the two could be forced to return to Earth if the Progress does not reach the station. Officials at the Russian Mission Control in Korolyov just outside Moscow sought to play down concerns, saying the crew has enough food for another month. "The crew isn't hungry or thirsty,» Mission Control chief Vladimir Solovyov said with a grin. «We are running short of food due to the break in shuttle flights, but it would be absolutely wrong to dramatize the situation and say they have nothing to eat." --SP 1547 Local Time 1247 GMT
