Accessibility links

Breaking News

Olympic Torch Arrives At Space Station


Soyuz Rocket Carries Olympic Torch To Space Station
please wait

No media source currently available

0:00 0:01:30 0:00

Soyuz Rocket Carries Olympic Torch To Space Station

The Olympic torch has arrived at the International Space Station aboard a Russian Soyuz capsule.

The capsule -- carrying the torch and a three-man crew -- successfully docked with the orbiting space station after being launched on November 7 from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan.

The torch will be taken on a spacewalk by two Russian cosmonauts on November 9 -- the first time an Olympic torch is to be carried into open space.

For safety reasons, the torch won't be lit during the flight or during its time in the space station.

Olympic torches were brought along on U.S. space shuttle voyages before the 1996 and 2000 games.

The torch is to be returned to Earth on November 11 to continue a 65,000-kilometer relay, ending with the start of the Winter Olympics in Russia's Black Sea resort city of Sochi on February 7.


Based on reporting by Reuters and AP

RFE/RL has been declared an "undesirable organization" by the Russian government.

If you are in Russia or the Russia-controlled parts of Ukraine and hold a Russian passport or are a stateless person residing permanently in Russia or the Russia-controlled parts of Ukraine, please note that you could face fines or imprisonment for sharing, liking, commenting on, or saving our content, or for contacting us.

To find out more, click here.

XS
SM
MD
LG