Soyuz Capsule Returns To Earth Carrying 2014 Winter Olympic Torch

A Russian Soyuz space capsule has safely returned to Earth carrying three astronauts that had been aboard the ISS and another interesting piece of cargo. The capsule returned the astronauts along with the Olympic torch to be used for the 2014 Winter Games.

The 2014 Winter Olympics will be held in February in Sochi, Russia. The capsule returned its crew of astronauts safely to earth after they'd spent five and half months in space. One of the astronauts that returned to Earth was a Russian cosmonaut named Fyodor Yurchikhin, who was also Commander of the Expedition 37 crew.

Yurchikhin is seen in the photograph holding the Olympic torch. It looks more like some sort of Klingon weapon than a torch for the Olympic Games. The capsule landed in central Kazakhastan at 0249 GMT on November 11.

NASA said that the Soyuz TMA-09M spacecraft made a "bull's eye" landing. Before departing from the ISS Fyodor Yurchikhin transferred command to Oleg Kotov who now commands Expedition 38. The Olympic torch was sent to the ISS on Thursday, November 7 and was carried outside the ISS during a spacewalk.

SOURCE: Space.com