2014年冬季奥林匹克运动会将在俄罗斯索契举行。主办方表示，2014年冬奥会圣火火炬在到达主办城市索契之前，有可能会被传递至国际空间站，进行一次短暂的太空旅行。

The Olympic torch rally traditionally spans the world before reaching the host city.
The Olympic flame that will travel the world before reaching the Russian resort town of Sochi for the 2014 Winter Olympics may also a pay a brief visit to space, according to a top official.

An Olympic visit to the International Space Station is an "interesting" idea that requires further study, according to Vitaly Davydov, deputy head of Russia's Federal Space Agency.

"It is not a bad idea," Mr Davydov said. "It is theoretically possible."

The space official admitted that open flames（明火） were not allowed on board the international space lab, which is manned by US, Russian and various other astronauts.

But he said that his agency was open to ideas from Russia officials if they do decide to send the torch and flame to space.

Russia has been pulling out all the stops since winning the 2014 Games, a prestige（威望） event that the Black Sea resort town won against all the odds¹ on the back of a personal lobbying effort from former President Vladimir Putin.

The Games have been estimated to cost about $31 billion (£19 million).

The Olympic torch rally traditionally spans（跨越，持续） the world before reaching the host city.

Davydov said Wednesday tradition prevented Russia from taking the novel step of lighting² the torch in space from sunbeams（阳光，日光） .