A team of Russian cosmonauts plans to take the Olympic torch for the 2014 Sochi Winter Games into orbit, aboard the International Space Station. The torch's route could even see it carried outside the station, into space.
Russia’s Federal Space Agency has confirmed to RT details of the
plans are being discussed.
"It will be the same as the torch at the Olympics," the
deputy head of Russia's space agency Roscosmos, Vitaly Davydov,
told the Interfax news agency. He added that the space walk with
the torch had been agreed with the Olympic committee.
The torch will not be lit as naked flames are prohibited from
being carried inside a spaceship to the ISS.
The walk is set to take place in November, with the torch
expected to return back to Earth on November 12. The schedule of
rockets taking astronauts to the ISS is not likely to be changed
for the event.
Russian cosmonauts Oleg Kotov and Sergey Ryazansky are expected
to perform the space walk with the torch.
The Olympic torch marathon is due to begin on October 7 and will
cover 65,000 kilometers in more than 100 days.
The highlights, apart from the space walk, include climing Mount
Elbrus, the highest peak of Europe, as well as travelling to the
bottom of Lake Baikal and the North Pole. 14,000 people are
scheduled to carry the torch during the marathon.