Sochi Olympic Torch Taken On Spacewalk

Two Russian cosmonauts have begun a five-hour spacewalk with the Olympic torch for the upcoming Winter Games in Sochi.

Oleg Kotov and Sergei Ryazansky took the unlit torch on a spacewalk from the International Space Station (ISS) more than 260 miles (420 kilometres) above the Earth. 

Kotov waved the torch in his gloved hand outside the ISS, while he floated almost directly above Australia. 

The torch was tethered to his spacesuit to ensure it didn't float away. 

The Olympic torch is held in open space

"Beautiful," said Ryazansky, as he watched his fellow cosmonaut. 

The pair exchanged the torch in open space and filmed the event using high-tech video and photo equipment 

Earlier, Kotov had promised to steer clear of any grand speeches to mark the stunt. 

"Such momentous events are usually marked by some sort of grand pronouncement," Kotov said from the space station.

It is the first time in history the torch has been taken on a spacewalk

"But we are not going to be so original.

"Our speeches will be dedicated to the promotion of the Olympic movement, healthy lifestyles and the development of sport around the world."

Russia had originally contemplated sending the actual flame up to the station by encasing it in a special lantern, but internationally agreed rules governing the ISS forbid flames from being lit because they would burn up the limited supplies of oxygen available to the crew.

The torch being taken on to the Soyuz rocket

The torch will spend just over five hours in open space, before the cosmonauts begin the more mundane task of maintaining the ISS. 

The feather-shaped silver and red symbol of peace and friendship has already been sent to the North Pole aboard a nuclear-powered icebreaker and is still set to visit the bottom of Baikal, the world's deepest freshwater lake.

The torch also visited the ISS ahead of the 1996 Summer Games in Atlanta and the 2000 event in Sydney, but it has never before been taken out on a spacewalk.

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