OLYMPICS. The Olympic Flames goes to space for the first time in history. An international team, which includes Russian astronaut Mikhail Tyurin of Roscosmos, NASA's astronaut Richard Mastracchio and an astronaut from the Japanese Aerospace Agency JAXA Koichi Wakata, were trusted with the mission to deliver the torch of the XXII Winter Olympics to the International Space Station orbiting the Earth.

Photo: AFP

The Olympic symbol was sent to space on November 7, exactly a month after the launch of the torch relay. Soyuz spaceship decorated with the Olympic symbols will deliver the torch to the space station. This mission is especially exciting for the American and the Japanese astronauts not only because they take part in the Olympic Flame relay, but also because it is their first flight on Soyuz, admitted Koichi Wakata before the launch at the Baikonur Cosmodrome.

Photo: AFP

«I am excited about the flight on Soyuz. During the flight on the Shuttle it took us two days to approach and dock the station. Now it will take only 6 hours, which speaks of Russia's great achievement».

The Soyuz spacecraft prepares to dock with the International Space Station (ISS) in this still image taken from video November 7, 2013. A three-man crew successfully blasted off into space with the Olympic torch on Thursday, ready to take it on its first space walk in what they said would be a "spectacular" showcase for the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi. (Photo: REUTERS/NASA TV/Handout via Reuters)

The Japanese astronaut says that teamwork is the key to success of the space expedition same as in sports. That corresponds to the spirit of the Olympics, points out the NASA astronaut Richard Mastracchio.

«The Olympic games are a remarkable event, which unites many different nations. This torch will also symbolize the unity of nations, which work at the International Space Station. I am very glad that we will be able to tie on work on board of the space station with the Olympics. I am happy to be a part of this event».

Photo: AFP

This relay is the most large-scale in the history of the Olympics. The Olympic symbol will not only travel to space, but will also descend to the bottom of the deepest lake on the planet – Lake Baikal, as well as be raised to the highest point in Europe – to the top of the Elbrus Mountain in the Caucasus. Over the four months 14 thousand torch carriers will carry the flame across Russia. The Russian astronaut Mikhail Tyurin has already taken part in the relay – on October 10 he ran with the torch across his native town of Kolomna near Moscow.

«It is symbolic and very good that we will have a relay of our own. Our team is to deliver it to the space station, the team of the station will deliver it into space, while a third team will bring it back to Earth. In the entire history of mankind, the Olympic Flame is perhaps the oldest symbol of peace. It is touching that we will be a part of that. In the ancient times even wars were stopped during the Olympic games».

Photo: AFP

In the Earth orbit the flame relay will be taken by the Roscosmos astronauts Oleg Kotov and Sergey Ryazansky, who are now at the International Space Station. They have a difficult but honorable mission of carrying the Olympic torch into open space. Meanwhile, the Sochi Olympics flame continues its relay on Earth. These days it is being carried by airplanes, all terrain vehicles and by dog and deer teams, skies and snowboards through the most Northern Russian cities – Norilsk, Yakutsk, Magadan and Anadyr on Chukotka.

Maria Balyabina
The Voice of Russia / voiceofrussia.com
7 November 2013, 12:36

Russian manned spacecraft carrying Olympic torch docks with ISS - mission control

Russia's Soyuz TMA-11M spacecraft carrying the 38th/39th expedition to the International Space Station and a torch for next year's Sochi Winter Olympic Games has docked with the ISS' Rassvet Small Research Module.

Photo: AFP
The Soyuz spacecraft approaches the International Space Station (ISS) in this still image taken from video November 7, 2013. A three-man crew successfully blasted off into space with the Olympic torch on Thursday, ready to take it on its first space walk in what they said would be a "spectacular" showcase for the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi. (Photo: REUTERS/NASA TV/Handout via Reuters)

"The docking mechanism is currently being extended. Following the mechanical docking, pressure levels will be equalized between the spacecraft and the station, the hermetic sealing of the systems will be checked and the crews will open the transfer hatches. It will happen at approximately 4:40 pm," a Russian Mission Control Center spokesman said.

The Soyuz TMA-11M, which was designed and built by the Energia Rocket and Space Corporation, based outside of Moscow, is carrying Mikhail Tyurin (Russia), Rick Mastracchio (the United States) and Koici Wakata (Japan), who will spend the next six months onboard the ISS.

Photo: AFP

Russia's Fyodor Yurchikhin, Oleg Kotov and Sergei Ryazansky, NASA astronauts Karen Nyberg and Michael Hopkins, as well as European astronaut Luca Parmitano are currently working onboard the orbiting outpost.

The hatches between the Soyuz TMA-11M and the ISS will be opened at approximately 4:40 pm, after which the new crewmembers will be welcomed onboard the ISS, and Tyurin will hand over the Olympic torch to Yurchikhin.

Russian cosmonauts Kotov and Ryazansky will carry out the November 9 spacewalk.

They will carry the Olympic torch into space at around 6:36 pm on Saturday and will conduct a photo session with it for an hour.

The Olympic torch is expected to be brought back to the Earth on November 11 by Yurchikhin, Nyberg and Parmitano, who will leave the ISS onboard the Soyuz TMA-09M spacecraft.

Sochi 2014 Organizing Committee President Dmitry Chernyshenko said earlier that "this is the torch that will be used to light the Olympic cauldron in Sochi."

Soyuz TMA-11M rocket with Sochi Olympic torch blasts off into space

Russia's Soyuz TMA-11M spacecraft carrying the 38th/39th expedition to the International Space Station (ISS) and a torch for next year's Sochi Winter Olympic Games lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Thursday.

"The spacecraft reached its near-Earth orbit approximately nine minutes [after takeoff]. It is expected to dock to the ISS at 2:32 pm Moscow time," a spokesman for the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) said.

ISS crewmembers will take the Olympic torch on a spacewalk on November 9.

The torch will be returned to the Earth on November 11 and will then be used to light the Olympic cauldron in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi in February 2014.

The Soyuz TMA-11M, which was designed and built by the Energia Rocket and Space Corporation, based outside of Moscow, is carrying Mikhail Tyurin (Russia), Rick Mastracchio (the United States) and Koici Wakata (Japan), who will spend the next six months onboard the ISS.

Russia launches rocket with three astronauts and Olympic torch

Russia on Thursday launched a rocket carrying Russian, Japanese and US astronauts and an Olympic torch for the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi from its Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, mission control said.

The Soyuz-FG rocket and Soyuz-TMA capsule, emblazoned with the symbols of the Sochi Games and the Olympic rings, blasted off on time at 8:14 am (0414 GMT), mission control said.

Two Russian astronauts will take the unlit torch on a space walk on Saturday.

The crew for the historic 38/39 mission on the International Space Station consist of commander Mikhail Tyurin of Roscosmos, Rick Mastracchio of NASA and Koichi Wakata of Japan’s JAXA.

The veteran astronauts who spent two-and-a-half years preparing for the flight have already taken part in the relay on Earth, bringing the Sochi Olympics torch from their hotel to the bus which delivered them to the launch pad, and will take the torch to the ISS and bring it back to Earth.

Voice of Russia, AFP, RT, Interfax
The Voice of Russia / voiceofrussia.com
7 November 2013, 14:36

Russian Soyuz spacecraft with Olympic torch launches into orbit

Russia’s Soyuz spacecraft that has been launched from the Baikonur spaceport in Kazakhstan at 08:14 MSK on Thursday has entered the desired orbit, sources in the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roskosmos) said.

"At 08:23 Moscow Time the Soyuz TMA-11M spacecraft separated from the carrier rocket and entered the desired orbit," Roskosmos said.

The crew of the next long-term Expedition 38/39 to the International Space Station (ISS) is on board: Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin, NASA astronaut Richard Mastracchio and astronaut of the Japanese Space Agency JAXA Koichi Wakata.

The Voice of Russia / voiceofrussia.com
TASS / itar-tass.com
7 November 2013, 10:10