TORONTO – The Russian rocket that will take the Olympic torch into space later this week, was rolled out on the launchpad Tuesday.
The Russian Soyuz TMA-11M, adorned with Olympic artwork and the Olympic logo, made its way slowly to the launchpad, preparing for its scheduled liftoff on Thursday.
Read: Astronauts move Soyuz capsule around space station
The rocket will carry Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin, NASA astronaut Rick Mastracchio and Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) to the International Space Station (ISS) where they will spend six months living and working in space.
On Saturday, the torch will be taken out on a ceremonial spacewalk by Russian cosmonauts Oleg Koto and Sergey Ryazanskiy. They hope to take it on the walk when the space station is over Sochi.
Though the torch has been in space before – in 1996 aboard the space shuttle Atlantis – it has never been on a spacewalk.
Before making its way to Sochi, the Olympic torch is visiting several exotic locations.
It will travel by plane, train, car and even reindeer sleigh, with 14,000 torch bearers taking part, travelling through 130 cities and towns.
Last month the flame travelled to the North Pole aboard a Russian nuclear-powered icebreaker. Later this month it will sink the the bottom of the world’s deepest lake, Lake Baikal. And in the days before reaching Sochi, it will be taken to the peak of Mount Elbrus, at 5,642 metres, the highest mountain in Russian and Europe.
The trip into space, however, will be the longest leg of the Olympic relay.
The Winter Olympics, to be held in Sochi, Russia, begins in February, 2014.
The torch will return to Earth next Monday when three astronauts who are currently aboard the ISS, return to Earth.
–with files from The Associated Press
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