Russia launches torch into space for Saturday space walk - Polidicks

[QUOTE] For the first time in history, the Olympic torch will be taken on a spacewalk. The 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics torch will be sent to the International Space Station on board a Russian spacecraft this week and astronauts will then carry it outside the station. Here's a look at the Sochi torch. THE SPACE CHARIOT The torch will travel into Earth's orbit with the next space station crew, who blast off early Thursday from the Russian-operated Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Russia's Mikhail Tyurin, NASA's Rick Mastracchio and Koichi Wakata of Japan are heading to the space station on a Russian Soyuz rocket that has been emblazoned with the emblem of the Sochi Winter Games. FLAMES IN SPACE For safety reasons, the torch will not burn when it's onboard the space outpost. Lighting it would consume precious oxygen and pose a threat to the crew. The crew will carry the unlit torch around the station's numerous modules before taking it out on a spacewalk. A TORCH FIRST The Olympic torch has flown into space before — in 1996 aboard the U.S. space shuttle Atlantis for the Atlanta Summer Olympics — but it has never yet been taken outside a spacecraft. HANGING IN THE COSMOS Russian cosmonauts Oleg Kotov and Sergei Ryazanskiy, who are part of the space station's current crew, will take the torch into open space Saturday when they venture outside the station. Kotov says they are planning to take the video and photos of the torch, hopefully when the space station flies over Russia and the southern resort of Sochi can be seen in the background. FALLING BACK TO EARTH The torch will stay in space for five days until the returning crew takes it back to Earth next Monday, when Russian Fyodor Yurchikhin, NASA astronaut Karen Nyberg and Luca Parmitano of the European Space Agency plan to land in Kazakhstan. JUST PART OF THE JOURNEY The four-month Sochi torch relay, which started in Moscow on Oct. 7, is the longest in the history of the Olympics. For most of the 65,000- kilometer (39,000-mile) route, the flame will travel by plane, train, car and even reindeer sleigh, but 14,000 torch bearers are taking part in the relay that stops at more than 130 cities and towns. Last month, the Olympic flame traveled to the North Pole onboard a Russian nuclear-powered icebreaker. Later this month it will sink to the bottom of the world's deepest lake, Lake Baikal. In February, the torch will be taken to the peak of Mount Elbrus, at 5,642 meters (18,510 feet) the highest mountain in Russia and Europe.[/QUOTE] [url]http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/wireStory/russia-sending-sochi-olympics-torch-space-20787266[/url] [IMG]http://l.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/zQ0aHVVbfl3EdF8H8PaBVA--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9ZmlsbDtoPTczMDtweW9mZj0wO3E9NzU7dz01NzU-/http://media.zenfs.com/en_US/News/SPACE.com/Olympic_Torch_Launches_Into_Orbit-b7b7d344425f75bb377cfe1c8a907ed6[/IMG] [IMG]http://1-ps.googleusercontent.com/h/sports.inquirer.net/files/2013/11/595x407xKazakhstan-Russia-Spa_Inte-1024x701.jpg.pagespeed.ic.KzPkpT6eQq.jpg[/IMG]

Why does the torch have to look so wonky? Why not something trumpet-shaped or I dunno.

wouldn't burn so well in space though.

[QUOTE=Fatfatfatty;42789923]wouldn't burn so well in space though.[/QUOTE] They don't burn so well on Earth either

Imagine if they accidentally fling it out into space. What would they even do in that situation "Whoops, accidentally put the Olympic torch in orbit. Dang."

[QUOTE=Murkat;42790427]Imagine if they accidentally fling it out into space. What would they even do in that situation[/QUOTE] 2034 SPACE OLYMPICS

[QUOTE=Thomo_UK;42790435]2034 SPACE OLYMPICS[/QUOTE] And the winner of the olympic weightlifting event is: everyone

[QUOTE=Murkat;42790427]Imagine if they accidentally fling it out into space. What would they even do in that situation "Whoops, accidentally put the Olympic torch in orbit. Dang."[/QUOTE] -snip- Misinterpreted the post.

[QUOTE=Thomo_UK;42790435]2034 SPACE OLYMPICS[/QUOTE] [video=youtube;jp77WTBLYCA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jp77WTBLYCA[/video]

-didn't read-

[QUOTE=MatheusMCardoso;42790827]I think they mean suborbital not space.[/QUOTE] I think everybody would be a little worried if the ISS was on a suborbital trajectory.

[QUOTE=Thomo_UK;42790435]2034 SPACE OLYMPICS[/QUOTE] 3022* [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jp77WTBLYCA[/media]

What is even the point if the torch is not going to burn?

it'd be neat if they added a little oxygen canister so it could burn while in space

[QUOTE=Desuh;42790944]What is even the point if the torch is not going to burn?[/QUOTE] It doesn't burn anyways so its not going to make a difference.

[QUOTE=Desuh;42790944]What is even the point if the torch is not going to burn?[/QUOTE] Russia fucked it up already anyway IIRC.

[QUOTE=Eudoxia;42789911]Why does the torch have to look so wonky? Why not something trumpet-shaped or I dunno.[/QUOTE] It almost looks like a joke weapon out of Soul Calibur. :v:

[QUOTE=Splash Attack;42790747]That's not how space works.[/QUOTE] How does space work?

[QUOTE=Splash Attack;42790747]That's not how space works.[/QUOTE] If they're in orbit it is.

[QUOTE=Splash Attack;42790747]That's not how space works.[/QUOTE] If the astronauts are orbiting earth, why shouldn't the torch

[QUOTE=Splash Attack;42790747]That's not how space works.[/QUOTE] He didn't really say anything to contradict how space works. Can you explain to us how space DOES work, if we're all apparently incorrect?

[QUOTE=CAPT Opp4;42791694] Can you explain to us how space DOES work, if we're all apparently incorrect?[/QUOTE] It doesn't. Space is on welfare. Lazy space.

[QUOTE=Petrussen;42791460]If the astronauts are orbiting earth, why shouldn't the torch[/QUOTE] Stuff slows down up there and sooner or later the torch would burn up in re-entry

[QUOTE=gaboer;42794045]Stuff slows down up there and sooner or later the torch would burn up in re-entry[/QUOTE] Then technically nothing is in orbit because there are particles everywhere in space

[QUOTE=Eudoxia;42789911]Why does the torch have to look so wonky? Why not something trumpet-shaped or I dunno.[/QUOTE] Yes keep everything comically predictable please

[QUOTE=gaboer;42794045]Stuff slows down up there and sooner or later the torch would burn up in re-entry[/QUOTE] It would eventually fall to earth and burn up, but it would orbit for months if not years before doing so. Hell the space station would fall down too if we didn't re-boost it to keep it up there.

[QUOTE=Eudoxia;42789911]Why does the torch have to look so wonky? Why not something trumpet-shaped or I dunno.[/QUOTE] It's like they dug it out of some prop warehouse for sci-fi movies.

[QUOTE=Murkat;42790427]Imagine if they accidentally fling it out into space. What would they even do in that situation "Whoops, accidentally put the Olympic torch in orbit. Dang."[/QUOTE] But it already is in orbit

So, did anyone count all the times the torch has went out?

isn't a spacewalk like the most dangerous activity one can partake on the space station, and I know they have stuff to do but going on a space walk and spending one hour posing with the torch on different parts of the station seems kinda....dumb reckless and dangerous....