A Russian cosmonaut who has returned to Earth after a mission on the International Space Station said on Wednesday he had taken a relic of a Russian Orthodox saint with him.
Astronauts and cosmonauts routinely take small items such as their children's toys or CDs with them as reminders of home.
Sergei Ryzhikov told Russian news agencies that he would give the tiny relic of St Serafim of Sarov's body, which he received from its home monastery last year, to an Orthodox church in Star City outside Moscow, home to the cosmonaut training centre.
