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An image
obtained from NASA TV shows cosmonaut Oleg Kotov holding the
Olympic torch in
front of Sergei Ryazansky (rear) outside the International Space
Station on November
9, 2013 (NASA TV/AFP)
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Moscow —
Two cosmonauts took the Olympic torch -- unlit -- for a spacewalk Saturday in a
historic showcasing of Russia's Sochi Winter Olympic Games in three months'
time.
Veteran
cosmonaut Oleg Kotov ventured outside the International Space Station (ISS)
with the torch held ceremonially in his gloved hand and his every move beamed
live across the nation by Russian state TV.
The
feather-shaped red-and-grey symbol of peace and friendship was tethered safely
to his bulky spacesuit to make sure it did not spin away in orbit 260 miles
(420 kilometres) above the Earth.
The moment
was captured on high-tech video and photo equipment operated by fellow
cosmonaut Sergei Ryazansky -- out on his very first spacewalk.
"Beautiful,"
Ryazansky exclaimed as Kotov proudly waved the torch in front of the camera
while floating almost directly above Australia.
"It is
hard to believe that this is happening," a state television commentator
exclaimed. "Something this beautiful has never happened before."
The pair
then spent about an hour taking turns holding the torch and posing for dramatic
shots with the Earth serving as the backdrop.
But their
conversation mainly consisted of complicated space jargon and detailed
exchanges with the Russian commander on board the ISS.
Kotov had
warned before the spacewalk that he did not intend to make any "grand
pronouncement" similar to the one Neil Armstrong delivered when he took
his first step on the Moon in 1969.
Saturday's
mission marked the very first time the Olympic symbol entered open space -- a
no-expense-spared triumph for Russia as it showed off its prowess in both
science and sport.
Russia has
gone to unparallelled lengths to promote its first Olympic event since the 1980
Summer Games in Moscow were boycotted by a bloc of Western nations because of
the Soviet Union's invasion at the time of Afghanistan.
Moscow has
already sent the torch to the North Pole aboard a nuclear-powered icebreaker.
It will soon visit the bottom of Baikal -- the world's deepest freshwater lake.
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People in
Tokyo watch a live broadcast showing the launch of Russia's Soyuz
TMA-11M
spacecraft, carrying an international crew and an unlit Olympic torch
for the
2014 Winter Games in Sochi, blasting off from the Kazakh Baikonur
cosmodrome,
on November 7, 2013 (AFP Photo, Toru Yamanaka)
|
All are
extravagant reminders from President Vladimir Putin's government about the
breadth of both Russia's ambitions and its natural wealth.
But little
compares to the pride Russia has taken in shooting the torch up to the ISS
aboard the same type of rocket the Soviets used for launching pioneering
spaceman Yuri Gagarin in 1961.
"Taking
the Olympic torch to space -- only we are capable of that," a state
television presenter boasted on Thursday during a news show about the upcoming
February 7-23 Sochi Games.
The bold
claim is not actually true. Torches also left the planet aboard US space
shuttle voyages ahead of the 1996 Summer Games in Atlanta and the 2000 event in
Sydney.
But never
has a torch been taken out for a spacewalk until Saturday.
Space
officials stressed that safety precautions meant the torch remained unlit while
inside the ISS at all times. Flames outside the station are impossible because
of the lack of oxygen.
"We do
not intend to set fire to anything, including the Olympic torch,"
cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin joked on Friday during a video hookup from the space
station.
Russia had
nevertheless at one point contemplated sending the actual flame up to the
station by encasing it in a special lantern.
Vitaly
Davydov of the Roscosmos space agency set the debate rolling by remarking in
2011 that such a space shot "is not a bad idea (that) is theoretically
possible".
More
cautious senior Russian officials eventually decided that lighting a fire
aboard a Soyuz rocket filled with tonnes of explosive fuel was not a wise
choice.
Internationally
agreed rules governing the ISS itself forbid flames from being lit on the
orbiting lab because they would burn up the limited supplies of oxygen
available to the crew.
But the
symbolism of the spacewalk with the unlit torch still received extra global
promotion by being aired live on screens at New York's Times Square.
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