Olympic Flame to Go for a Spacewalk

The Olympic torch, known as the Firebird’s Feather, will be taken for a spacewalk for the first time in history, according to the Voice of Russia.

Russian spacemen Oleg Kotov and Sergey Ryazansky will carry it out of the ISS and imitate the Olympic torch relay. They will pose in front of the cameras fixed outside the ISS passing the torch to each other as part of the Olympic relay race.

Kotov and Ryazansky also undertook to make a short speech on the occasion of this unique event.

After the photo session the spacemen will place the torch into the joint airlock and will continue work in open space.

The return of the Olympic torch to Earth is scheduled for November 11.

Olympic torch launched into space

For the first time in Olympic history, the Olympic torch has been launched into space. A Soyuz spacecraft carrying the main Olympic symbol docked to the International Space Station on Thursday at 14:30 Moscow time.

The Soyuz-TMA capsule docked to the International Space Station in an automatic mode six hours after the launch. An international crew composed of Roscosmos’s astronaut Mikhail Tyurin, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s Koichi Wakata and NASA’s Richard Mastracchio, brought the Olympic torch to the Earth’s orbit. The team will be able to get to the ISS only two hours later, Russian astronaut Yuri Malenchenko says.

“Upon docking the ISS’s crew has to check seal integrity of the docking mechanism which will take up some time. When all the checks are done, they will open hatches and meet newcomers. After the ceremony with the torch they’ll need to proceed with further activities such as sealing the spaceship, carrying over things, and providing ventilation. Lots of things to do,” he concludes.

The new comers will join the astronauts who are currently living at the station: Russians Oleg Kotov, Sergei Ryazansky, Fyodor Yurchikhin, Americans Michael Hopkins and Karen Nyberg, and Italian Luca Parmitano. There will be nine astronauts and three docked spacecrafts at the station.

The Soyuz spacecraft with the Olympic torch on board was launched from the first launch pad of the Baikonur Cosmodrome from which Yuri Gagarin set off back in the days. The spacecraft approached the orbit at 8:23 Moscow time, Mikhail Tyurin, the spacecraft’s captain reported.

“the flight is proceeding normally. Third stage engines are turned off. The manned Soyuz-TMA spacecraft has entered the satellite’s orbit,” he added.

Thus spaceflight is a remarkable event both for Russia’s astronautics and the Olympic movement, Dmitry Kozak, Deputy Prime Minister of Russia, stated.

“It was an impressive and unforgettable episode. The IOC’s members were present. For the first time the symbol of the Olympic movement will be in outer space. The government and Roscosmos created the program together. This torch relay will show our country and its grandness. Space exploration is one of our country’s major accomplishments and we should demonstrate it and draw attention of the entire world,” he said.

The torch was handed over to astronauts Oleg Kotov and Sergei Ryazansky who will later spacewalk with it. For security reasons it was decided not to light the torch up at the station. On November 11, the crew composed of Russian Fyodor Yurchikhin, American Karen Nyberg and Italian Luca Parmitano will bring the torch back to the Earth. During the opening ceremony of the Sochi Olympics, the Olympic flame will be lit up from this torch.

H.M