The space race continues and now the movie industry is involved. A Russian film crew launched into space on Tuesday to work on the world’s first movie in orbit.
Actor Yulia Peresild and film producer Kim Shipenko will use the International Space Station as a film set for their upcoming movie “Challenge.” Peresild will play a surgeon who rushes to the space station to save a crew member with a medical condition preventing him from returning to Earth to be treated.
The film crew will return to Earth after 12 days on the space station. They are also accompanied by Anton Shkaplerov, a veteran Russian astronaut who will be conducting research for Roscosmos, a Russian space corporation, while helping out with the production.
The crew’s training and launch was covered extensively by Russia’s state-controlled Channel One television, which is also involved in making the movie.
“I’m in shock. I still can’t imagine that my mom is out there,” said Peresild’s daughter, Anna, in televised remarks after the launch.
The Russian film crew is likely to beat a similar Hollywood project that was announced last year involving Tom Cruise, Nasa, and Elon Musk’s Space X.
90-year-old actor William Shatner, who plays Captain Kirk in Star Trek, will also fly to space on a mission with Jeff Bezo’s Blue Origin later this month.
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