The Olympic torch has been delivered to the International Space Station ready for its first- ever space walk ahead of the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi.<br /><br />Less than six hours after the Soyuz rocket took off from Kazakhstan, the three-man crew linked up successfully with their colleagues aboard the ISS, carrying the torch which is decorated with a Sochi 2014 logo and a colourful snowflake design.<br /><br />For obvious safety reasons the torch will not be lit. It could be a relief for Russia as the flame has gone out several times since the relay began last month.<br /><br />It is the third time the Olympic torch has travelled into space: Olympic torches were brought along on US space shuttle voyages before the 1996 and 2000 Games. <br /><br />But it has never been on a space walk before. That is due to happen on Saturday, when the flameless object will be taken outside the airlock by two Russian cosmonauts 400 kilometres above Earth.<br /><br />Conscious that its weightlessness may cause problems, Russian engineers have attached a tether to prevent the torch from floating away.<br /><br />The torch is to be returned to Earth on Monday to continue a 65,000-km relay culminating with the start of the Olympics in the Black Sea resort city of Sochi on February 7.
