Russia will film the first fictional movie in the cosmos for which it put into orbit a recording team that arrived Tuesday at the International Space Station (ISS).
The purpose of sending the film crew to the cosmos is to shoot the first feature-length fiction film aboard the ISS, thus pre-empting Hollywood and NASA projects.
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Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov rejoiced and recalled that after all, it was Moscow that was a pioneer in space, a place in which, he said, they retain very strong position, despite the fact that a few super-powers are close behind, in reference to the United States, Europe and China.
The Soyuz MS-19 spacecraft lifted off Tuesday from Russia's Baikonur Cosmodrome, which is in neighboring Kazakhstan, on its way to the international orbital platform with three members on board: cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov, actress Yulia Peresild and film director Klim Shipenko.
Soyuz circled Earth orbit twice and reached the ISS in 3 hours and 27 minutes, in a docking made by Shkaplerov in manual mode after the automatic Kurs approach system failed.
"The hatches between #SoyuzMS19 and the ISS are open. A 10-member crew has now begun work on the station: Oleg Novitsky, Peter Dubrov, Anton Shkaplerov, Klim Shippenko, Yulia Peresild, Mark Vande Hay, Shane Kimbrough, Megan MacArthur, Tom Peske and Akihiko Hoshide."
As the spacecraft approached the ISS, filming had already begun inside the craft for the future film, entitled "The Challenge," produced by Roscosmos, Russia's cosmos agency, and two television channels.
The filming is scheduled to last 12 days and will take place mainly on the Russian segment of the orbital platform, although there will also be visits to the U.S. side, according to NASA.
The plot of the film to be shot on the ISS revolves around a female doctor, played by Peresild, who flies into space to assist a cosmonaut, Shkaplerov.
So far, more than 60 women have traveled into space, but always as professional cosmonauts or space tourists, although it was the Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova who was the first to do so in 1963.