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Sochi-2014 Olympic torch installed in the International Space Station’s Russian segment

The cosmonauts explained what exactly they were planning to do with the Olympic torch in outer space

KOROLYOV, the Moscow region, November 8 (Itar-Tass) - Russian cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin has placed the Sochi-2014 Olympic torch in the beautiful corner of the Russian segment of the International Space Station (ISS).

“The torch has been in the hands of each member of the ISS crew. It was carried to all internal premises and segments of the station,” Yurchikhin said during a communication session with the ISS at the Mission Control Center in Korolyov near Moscow.

“I have installed it in the beautiful corner of the Russian segment of the International Space Station,” Yurchikhin said.

He praised his fellow-cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin for playing the role of a space torch bearer.

“He was the first man to step into the ISS with the torch,” Yurchikhin said.

Russian cosmonauts Oleg Kotov and Sergei Ryazanskiy will take the Sochi-2014 Olympic torch to outer space during a spacewalk on Saturday, November 9.

“Indeed, it is a tradition to say something on important occasions. We are not going to strike a line for ourselves. We will just say a few words to promote the Olympic movement, a healthy way of life and sport around the globe,” Kotov told journalists during a communication session with the International Space Station (ISS) at the Mission Control Center in Korolyov near Moscow.

The cosmonauts explained what exactly they were planning to do with the Olympic torch in outer space.

“We are going to move along the Russian segment of the International Space Station, handing over the torch to each other for two or three times. We will do our best to make a beautiful picture so that the whole country and the whole world could see the torch outside the station against the background of the Earth,” Kotov said.

The Olympic torch will return to Earth on November 11. Cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin will hand it over to representatives of the Sochi-2014 organizing committee after experts open the hatch of the descent module of the Soyuz TMA-09M spacecraft.