FIRST WEDDING IN SPACE

  HOUSTON (ap)—Commander Daniel Tighe and Dr. Lorraine Renoir were married yesterday aboard the space shuttle Constellation while it was docked to the Trikon Station in orbit 300 miles above the Earth. It was the first wedding ever performed in space.

  N.J. Williamson, commander of Constellation, officiated. The groom is the commander and the bride is the medical officer of Trikon Station, a commercial and industrial space station owned and operated by the Trikon International consortium.

  Best man was Dr. Hugh O'Donnell; the bridegroom's son, William Tighe, served as usher. Maid of honor was Dr. Thora Skillen, former head of the Trikon/North American research group aboard the station.

  The station was severely damaged three months ago when a crewman suffering from a delusional illness known as Orbital Dementia seized control of the command module and fired a series of thruster bursts that sent the station into a spin.

  Though the station was crippled and virtually without electrical power, Cmdr. Tighe single-handedly reoriented the station and maintained life support until help arrived.

  Cmdr. Tighe and Dr. Renoir, who will retain her maiden name, intend to remain on the station to supervise the repair work.

  Fabio Bianco, founder and CEO of Trikon International, who is now living permanently aboard the orbital station, gave the bride away.

  "This day marks a new beginning for Trikon and for the human race," Bianco told reporters via videophone. "Our program to create a microorganism that will eliminate toxic wastes has restarted and I expect success within six months to a year."

  Bianco added, "We will save the whales that now face extinction. And we will save the human race, as well."

  —The Hartford Courant, 7 December 1998