Japanese Applaud Discovery's Launch

Clad in a U.S. spacesuit, STS-114 mission specialist astronaut Soichi Noguchi - of JAXA - participates in a dry run "cure in place ablator applicator" test aboard NASA's KC-135 aircraft as part of return to flight readiness program. CREDIT: NASA/JSC.

CHIGASAKI, Japan (AP) -- Drums pounded and hundreds of hometown well-wishers roared with joy Tuesday as Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi blasted off aboard the space shuttle Discovery.

About 300 people braved a typhoon and crowded into a brightly decorated reception room at City Hall to watch ride into space with six other astronauts. Chigasaki, a coastal city just south of Tokyo, is Noguchi's hometown.

"It's magnificent," said Takakazu Ishii, 26, after watching the liftoff. "It's amazing."

When the launch was officially declared a success, the hall was filled with the popping of firecrackers and cheers of ''Banzai!'' _ an expression of congratulations that means "long life."

"We are praying for you," said Mayor Nobuaki Hattori. "Mr. Noguchi, good luck!"

Noguchi, 40, is the sixth Japanese astronaut to go into space, five of them aboard American spacecraft. A Japanese TV journalist was the first, having paid his way onto a flight with the Russians.

The launch was shown live on big screens across Japan, from a plaza in front of one of Tokyo's busiest train stations to a holding room at Japan's space agency headquarters. Millions more watched the broadcast live on NHK, Japan's public television network.

"It appears to be going very smoothly," Mamoru Mori, Japan's first astronaut, told NHK shortly after the launch.

Japan, long the premier space power in Asia, has closely tied its program to the United States. Since 1992, it has relied exclusively on the United States for manned flights, and, like NASA, is also a major participant in the International Space Station.

But China has recently eclipsed Japan by sending its first astronauts into orbit, a feat Japan has yet to accomplish on its own.

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