Russia launched the Soyuz rocket Wednesday night (Nov. 6) with three astronauts carrying the 2014 Sochi Olympic torch to the International Space Station (ISS).
Rick Mastracchio from NASA along with Mikhail Tyurin, (a Russian cosmonaut) and Koichi Wakata (Japanese astronaut) will be delivering the unlit Olympic torch at the International Space Station. The rocket blasted-off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 11:14 p.m. EST Wednesday.
Wakata "pumped the air with his fist" as the rocket took-off, Reuters reported. A stuffed polar bear wrapped in a blue scarf, a Sochi mascot, was also sent to space.
Two already on-board astronauts, Sergei Ryazansky and Oleg Kotov, will take the torch for a space walk on Saturday. The torch will be brought back to Earth by three astronauts who will finish their five-and-a-half-month mission and touchdown in Kazakhstan, Monday, reports IndiaToday.
This isn't the first time that a torch is sent to space. A similar ceremonial torch was sent onboard space shuttles before the Olympics in 1996 and again in 2000. However, this is the first time that the torch will go on a spacewalk, nbc reported.
"The Olympic torch, in the history of mankind, is probably the most ancient symbol of peace," Tyurin said during a pre-launch press conference, according to space.com. "It is a great pleasure and it is a great responsibility we are to work with this symbol of peace."
"I think it's great that we're bringing this symbol [of peace] up to the space station, which is another representation of international cooperation. It is great that we can tie these two events, the Olympics and the International Space Station. We are happy to be a small part of it," Mastracchio added, space.com reported.
Update - NASA announced that the crew docked to the Rassvet docking compartment at 5:27 a.m. Thursday.