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Olympic Torch Arrives at International Space Station


The Sochi Olympic torch is onboard the International Space Station, before being taken on an unprecedented spacewalk.

Accompanying the torch were three crew members: a Russian, an American, and a Japanese citizen, who blasted off on a Soyuz-FG rocket early Thursday from Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

Two Russian cosmonauts living at the station are expected to take the torch on a first-ever spacewalk on Saturday before bringing it home to Earth on Monday.

The torch will remain unlit for safety reasons. After its return to Earth, it will travel across Russia before being used to light the Olympic flame at the opening of the Games February 7 in Sochi.
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