Originally posted by the Voice of America. Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America, a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in the public domain. Olympic Torch Blasts Off for ISS Spacewalk A rocket carrying an unlit Olympic torch has blasted off from Earth ahead of February`s winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia. The Russian Soyuz-FG rocket, emblazoned with the logo of the 2014 Winter Games, launched from Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan early Thursday with three crew members: a Russian, an American, and a Japanese citizen. They were en route to the International Space Station, where two Russian cosmonauts living at the station will take the torch on a first-ever spacewalk. The torch will remain unlit for safety reasons until its return to Earth Monday on a Soyuz spacecraft. It will then travel across Russia before being used to light the Olympic flame February 7 in Sochi, at the opening of the Games. __________________________________________________________________ [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/olympic-torch-blasts-off-for-iss-spac ewalk/1785338.html References 1. http://www.voanews.com/content/olympic-torch-blasts-off-for-iss-spacewalk/1785338.html