Russian Film Crew Blasts Off To ISS To Shoot 'The Challenge', First Feature Film In Space

Russian film crew, including actress Yulia Pereslid and director Klim Shipenko, will shoot the first-ever feature film in space. It is titled 'Vyzov', meaning 'The Challenge'

Cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov along with actress Yulia Pereslid and director Klim Shipenko | Photo: Twitter/@Space_Station

New Delhi: Roscosmos cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov, along with actress Yulia Pereslid and director Klim Shipenko, blasted off to the International Space Station on Tuesday, October 5, to shoot first-ever feature film in space. 

The crew left aboard the Soyuz MS-19 manned spacecraft atop the Soyuz 2.1 launch vehicle, from Baikonur Cosmodrome, at 11:55 Moscow time (2:25 pm IST), for the three-hour spaceflight, Russian news agency TASS reorted.

The film is titled 'Vyzov', which means 'The Challenge', and it will be shot at the International Space Station (ISS). 

Russian space agency Roscosmos told TASS that the launch of the Soyuz MS-19 manned transport spacecraft is planned from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in ex-Soviet Kazakhstan in accordance with the flight program of the ISS.

If this mission is successful, the Russian film crew will beat the Tom Cruise-starrer Hollywood movie planned to be shot in space, together with NASA and SpaceX.

The spacecraft will dock with the Rassvet module of the ISS, after flying for approximately three hours and 17 minutes. The docking is scheduled at 15:12 Moscow time (5:42 pm IST) on Tuesday.

The Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center (GCTC) reported on Monday that the rehabilitation period of the film crew after flight to ISS will depend on their health. 

The #SoyuzMS19 spacecraft successfully reaches orbit 🚀

Cosmonaut @Anton_Astrey and spaceflight participants Yulia Peresild and Klim Shipenko are on their way to the International Space Station! The docking will take place in 3 hours - at 12:12 UTC. pic.twitter.com/viEeHHVovH

— РОСКОСМОС (@roscosmos) October 5, 2021

Filming Schedule And Return Of Crew

Roscosmos Director General Dmitry Rogozin said the Russian movie to be filmed aboard the ISS is special because it will result in development in the field of art as well as promote space technologies, according to another TASS report.

The crew includes people who are not professional cosmonauts, and must fulfil their objectives in zero gravity, under harsh space conditions, as a result of which there will be an overall development in the entire aerospace sphere, he added.

Cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov, actress Yulia Pereslid, and film director Klim Shipenko constitute the basic crew. A backup crew was also in place, comprising cosmonaut Oleg Artemyev, actress Alyona Mordovina, and cameraman Alexei Dudin. 

The movie will portray a woman doctor who never had to do anything with space and never thought of space activities, but there came a point in her life when she had to go to fly into orbit to save a cosmonaut's life. 

About 35-40 minutes of screen time will be filmed aboard the ISS. The film crew is expected to spend 12 days aboard the ISS, out of which 10 days will be devoted to filming the movie. 

The undocking of the Soyuz MS-18 spacecraft from the ISS is scheduled at 04:11:30 Moscow time (6:41 am IST) and landing is scheduled at 7:36:44 Moscow time (10:06 am IST) on October 17, according to a TASS report.

The Russian film crew will return in the capsule with cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy.