Russia plans to send the Olympic flame into space ahead of the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi.
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Zhukov told the International Olympic Committee here on Thursday that his country aims to be the first to take the flame into space as part of the longest-ever Olympic torch relay.
Zhukov said Sochi organizers also plan to take the torch to the top of Russia's highest mountain and the bottom of the world's deepest lake.
Zhukov revealed plans for the Olympic flame to go on a 120-day, 28,000-kilometer journey with 14,000 torch bearers in the leadup to the Sochi Games, including visits to Mount Elbrus and Lake Baikal.