Approx. 20 aircraft to support launch of spaceship carrying Olympic torch - Kazcosmos
ALMATY. Nov 1 (Interfax) - Aircraft and search-and-rescue units of the Russian central military district's air force and air defense command have departed for Kazakhstan to support the takeoff and landing of the Soyuz TMA-11M spaceship from the Baikonur Space Center, the Kazakh National Space Agency (Kazcosmos) reported.
"About 200 servicemen, 14 Mil Mi-8 helicopters, four Antonov An-12 and An-26 aircraft and 15 vehicles will support the launch. The same forces will search for and evacuate the landing module," Kazcosmos said on Friday.
"Russian astronauts Oleg Kotov and Sergei Ryazansky will carry an Olympic torch on a spacewalk. For security reasons the torch will not be lit," the report said.
A Soyuz-FG rocket carrying Soyuz TMA-11M will blast off at 8:14 a.m. Moscow time on November 7. Mikhail Tyurin (Russia), Richard Mastracchio (the United States) and Koichi Wakata (Japan) will go on the space mission and bring the Sochi Games 2014 torch to the International Space Station (ISS).
The astronauts will join the 38/39th ISS crew. Kotov and Ryazansky will carry the Olympic torch outside of the station on November 9, and the crew of Fyodor Yurchikhin (Russia), Karen Nyberg (the United States) and Luca Parmitano (ESA) will bring the torch back to the Earth on November 11.
