A Little Help, Comrade

With the American space shuttle program grounded in the wake of the Columbia disaster, the burden of supplying the crews at the international space station has fallen almost entirely on Russia. "This is a costly business for Russia," said the head of the agency that leads Russia's participation in the space station, who added that he hopes some financial help would come from the United States. A Russian Progress rocket lifted off for the space station on Friday, ferrying supplies to the crew including food, water, some comedy films and CDs, and a satellite phone.