Sochi Olympic torch reaches space station
Source: BBC
A Soyuz rocket carrying the torch for the Sochi Winter Olympics is preparing to dock with the International Space Station, as part of efforts to showcase next year's games in Russia.
On Saturday, two Russian cosmonauts will take it on a historic first spacewalk. The torch will not be lit.
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The Olympic torch has been carried into space twice before - in 1996 and 2000 - but it has never left a spaceship. It will not be lit aboard the space station as this would consume oxygen and pose a risk to the crew.
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It is all part of the elaborate preparations for Russia's first Olympics since the Soviet era. It is also the most expensive one so far, costing around $50bn (£31bn; 1,620bn roubles).
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Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-24846606
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