Olympic torch is the symbolic representation of our planet’s celebration of sports through international cooperation. This symbol was recently flashed at the International Space Station (ISS) when two Russian astronauts took it outdoors during a scheduled maintenance. The historic event was streamed online by NASA.
Oleg Kotov and Sergey Ryazanskiy are two cosmonauts who are part of the ISS crew. The duo was scheduled to go outdoors on the ISS for a scheduled maintenance. The Olympic torch had arrived the ISS aboard a Soyuz aircraft on Thursday, together with three other crew members.
Kotov and Ryazanskiy took the opportunity to carry the torch with them at the time of their scheduled maintenance. The torch was tethered to their suits and it spent a total of six hours in the open space, together with the two cosmonauts. Kotov flashed the symbolic torch while Ryazanskiy was able to snap a few shots of the moment with the camera in his helmet. The two also proceeded to capture a video of the incident.
In the past, the Olympic torch has been carried to the space twice. However, this is the first time it has been carried outside a spaceship and waved in the open space. The whole thing was an attempt by Russia to boost the anticipation leading to the 2014 winter games which are due to take place in the country.
The torch will be shipped back to Earth in the next few days. It will be used to light up the Olympic cauldron in February, 2014.
Source: NASA
Courtesy: The Verge
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