A Russian-American-Italian trio of cosmonauts and astronauts have taken a Soyuz space capsule on a rare trip around the International Space Station.
Russian flight commander Fyodor Yurchikhin led the team that undocked their Soyuz spacecraft from a module on the Earth-facing side of the station and flew it to the module's other end.
The fly-around sets the stage for the arrival on November 7 of a new crew, which will bring a torch that Russia is using in its relay for the Sochi Winter Olympics in February.
The Olympic torch will be taken on a symbolic spacewalk on November 9.
The arrival of the Soyuz spaceship next week will leave nine people on the International Space Station, the first time that so many people have been aboard at the same time.
Russian flight commander Fyodor Yurchikhin led the team that undocked their Soyuz spacecraft from a module on the Earth-facing side of the station and flew it to the module's other end.
The fly-around sets the stage for the arrival on November 7 of a new crew, which will bring a torch that Russia is using in its relay for the Sochi Winter Olympics in February.
The Olympic torch will be taken on a symbolic spacewalk on November 9.
The arrival of the Soyuz spaceship next week will leave nine people on the International Space Station, the first time that so many people have been aboard at the same time.
