Russian cosmonauts take the Olympic torch for its first spacewalk ahead of Sochi games
Russia has already made Olympic history and the Sochi games don't start until February. Earlier today, two cosmonauts took the ceremonial red and silver-clad torch for its first space relay ahead of the 2014 winter session. Torches were taken into space by astronauts in 1996 and 2000, but neither of those relics made it out in the open. With the exception of a tether for keeping it close by, the Olympic symbol used on the six-hour walk was identical to the several thousand that will be in-hand on the ground. Perhaps Rio will enlist SpaceX or Virgin Galactic for the first space-bound torch relay in 2016 -- only time will tell.
