BAIKONUR, Kazakhstan, Nov 7 — Russia sent the Olympic torch into space with a three-maRussian rocket takes Sochi Olympic torch to spacen crew that blasted off to the International Space Station today, three months before the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi.
The torch, unlit for safety reasons, was part of the payload of a Soyuz spacecraft that lifted off from the Russian-leased Baikonur launch facility in Kazakhstan.
Crew members Mikhail Tyurin of Russia, Rick Mastracchio of the United States and Koichi Wakata of Japan are to arrive after a six-hour flight at the orbiting outpost 450 km above Earth.
Two Russian cosmonauts are to take the torch out on a space walk on Saturday — the first time an Olympic torch is to be carried into open space. Olympic torches were brought along on US space shuttle voyages before the 1996 and 2000 Games.
The rocket, decorated with a Sochi 2014 logo and a colourful snowflake design, lifted off on schedule at 10:14 local time (0414 GMT) from the Russian-leased facility in Kazakhstan.
The torch is to be returned to Earth on Monday to continue a 65,000-km relay culminating in the start of the Olympics in the Black Sea resort city of Sochi on February 7. — Reuters
