  Photoassociation of two ultracold rubidium atoms and the subsequent formation
of stable molecules in the singlet ground and lowest triplet states is
investigated theoretically. The method employs laser pulses inducing
transitions via excited states correlated to the $5S+5P_{1/2}$ asymptote.
Weakly bound molecules in the singlet ground or lowest triplet state can be
created by a single pulse while the formation of more deeply bound molecules
requires a two-color pump-dump scenario. More deeply bound molecules in the
singlet ground or lowest triplet state can be produced only if efficient
mechanisms for both pump and dump steps exist. While long-range
$1/R^3$-potentials allow for efficient photoassociation, stabilization is
facilitated by the resonant spin-orbit coupling of the $0_u^+$ states.
Molecules in the singlet ground state bound by a few wavenumbers can thus be
formed. This provides a promising first step toward ground state molecules
which are ultracold in both translational and vibrational degrees of freedom.
