This archive report was first published on 5 October 2021.
On October 5, 2021, a Russian actress and director, Yulia Peresild and Klim Shipenko, respectively, arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) to begin a 12-day mission to make the first movie in orbit.
The Russian crew's mission, titled 'The Challenge,' aims to film scenes for the movie, which centers around a female surgeon who is dispatched to the ISS to save a cosmonaut.
Peresild, 37, and Shipenko, 38, took off from the Russia-leased Baikonur Cosmodrome in ex-Soviet Kazakhstan as scheduled and docked at the ISS behind schedule at 1222 GMT after veteran cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov switched to manual control.
As the hatches opened, the Russian trio floated into the orbital station where they were greeted by two Russian, a French, a Japanese, and three NASA astronauts.
“Welcome to the International Space Station,” Russian cosmonaut Oleg Novitsky tweeted from the ISS.
The crew travelled in a Soyuz MS-19 spaceship to film scenes for 'The Challenge.' Shkaplerov, 49, and the two Russian cosmonauts already aboard the ISS are said to have cameo roles in the film.
Konstantin Ernst, the head of the Kremlin-friendly Channel One TV network and a co-producer of the film, said he spoke with the crew as soon as they docked.
“They are in good spirits and feel well,” Ernst told AFP.
