TopWorld

Russian crew docks at ISS to film first movie in space

A Russian actress and director on Tuesday arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) in a bid to best the United States and film the first movie in orbit, AFP reports.

The Russian crew is set to beat a Hollywood project that was announced last year by “Mission Impossible” star Tom Cruise together with NASA and Elon Musk’s SpaceX.

Actress Yulia Peresild, 37, and film director Klim Shipenko, 38, took off from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan as scheduled. 

But they belatedly docked at the ISS at 1222 GMT after veteran cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov switched to manual control. 

“Welcome to the ISS!” Russia’s space agency Roscosmos said on Twitter. 

The crew travelled in a Soyuz MS-19 spaceship for a 12-day mission at the ISS to film scenes for “The Challenge”.

The movie’s plot, which has been mostly kept under wraps along with its budget, was revealed by Roscosmos to centre around a female surgeon who is dispatched to the ISS to save a cosmonaut.

Shkaplerov and two other Russian cosmonauts aboard the ISS are said to have cameo roles in the film. 

The ISS crew, which also includes a French, a Japanese and three NASA astronauts, will welcome the newcomers when the hatch opens at around 1410 GMT.

Show More
Back to top button