Russia's Soyuz TMA-11M spacecraft carrying an unlit Olympic torch for the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi.
The Olympic torch has been conveyed on snow-bikes, skidoos, camels and canoes, and just when it seemed that every mode of transport had been exhausted, Russia blasted the torch into space on a gaily painted Olympic-themed rocket, according to the Atlantic Wire.
The torch, along with three cosmonauts, launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Wednesday at 11:15 p.m ET. It will dock at the International Space Station at 5:30 in the morning, whereupon astronauts will relay it in a six-hour spacewalk.
NBC News reports another break with Olympic tradition: the torch will be extinguished for the duration of the trip.