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Fate of couple's space wedding up in the air

http://www.jewishworldreview.com | (KRT) Why didn't they just elope? NASA officials and their Russian counterparts had to be wondering Friday as the world's first proxy marriage from space turned into an international incident.

Ekaterina Dmitriev, a Russian-born American citizen, was all smiles this week as she announced that she and cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko would marry as he orbited Earth aboard the International Space Station on Aug. 10.

But Russian news agencies reported Friday that the 41-year-old cosmonaut was criticized by superiors for not getting permission and had decided to wait to get married until he returns to Earth this fall.

Not so, said the 26-year-old bride-to-be, who declined to talk in detail but indicated the plans had not changed. "It's still on," she said.

If the couple goes forward, NASA has agreed to cooperate as "support of a crew in orbit," spokesman Rob Navias said.

The stand-in groom, a retired lawyer who has visited Russia on business, said he wasn't entirely surprised at the confusion.

"I don't know how many dealings you've had with the Russians, but what's the law today isn't the law tomorrow, and even the lawyers don't know what the law is," said Harry Noe, 74, a family friend.

Plans called for a ceremony before Justice of the Peace William Yeoman with a reception at a restaurant near Johnson Space Center, Noe said. A space telephone hookup would be used where possible, with the proxy ready to step in if communications break down, Noe said.

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The couple originally planned to wait until Malenchenko's mission ends this fall, but the loss in February of space shuttle Columbia and the deaths of all seven astronauts aboard showed that life is fragile, Noe said. "They decided that if anything happened, they wished to be married."

Dmitriev said this week that she was also attracted to "doing things outside the norm, outside the box."

"To me it's very exciting," she said as she was issued the marriage license.

The Russian reaction was puzzling to Fort Bend County (Texas) Clerk Dianne Wilson, who decorated her office to issue Dmitriev the marriage license. Space officials ought to avail themselves of the great publicity, she said.

"I think this is a fabulous opportunity for the Russian government … to obtain some goodwill among our countries," she said.

Dmitriev, an administrative assistant at a Houston staffing company, met Malenchenko, who trains at Johnson Space Center, several years ago, said Noe.

"I believe her father invited him over to her house for dinner, which is a Russian custom," said Noe, who met the Dmitriev family through his wife, who is Russian.

According to Russian news reports, Malenchenko divorced his first wife last year and needed permission from his superiors to remarry. Any new wife would have to be cleared by security officials, reports said.

Russian officials also argued that proxy marriages are not legal in Russia, as they are in Texas.

An expert on the Russian space program said he wasn't surprised that the plans had hit a bump. Roald Sagdeev, a former director of the Russian Space Research Institute now teaching at the University of Maryland, said his own marriage to an American several years ago created problems.

"I thought that if I would ask for approval, they probably would say no," Sagdeev said. "So, we decided simply that we would make an announcement."

The Houston lovebirds are "lucky that Russia is today a different country," Sagdeev said. "There will be some formalities … but I don't see any real obstacles that would prevent the marriage."

In any case, friends said that the couple always planned to follow up with a more formal wedding at a church in Russia - with Malenchenko present.

"They are going to get married regardless," said wedding planner Jo Ann Schwartz.

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