Russia Launches First in History Movie Crew into Orbit

The state commission has approved the crew of the Soyuz MS-19 manned spacecraft, which will be launched into orbit from the Baikonur Cosmodrome on Tuesday, the Roscosmos press service told TASS.

"The main crew of the manned spacecraft includes Roscosmos cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov, actress Yulia Peresild and film director Klim Shipenko. The backup crew [is made up] of Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Artemyev, as well as actress Alyona Mordovina and cameraman Alexei Dudin," the state corporation noted.

The launch of the Soyuz-2.1A rocket carrier is scheduled for 11:55 Moscow time on October 5 from launch pad number 31 (Vostok/East) of the Baikonur Cosmodrome. Within roughly nine minutes, the spacecraft will reach orbit. Its approach to the International Space Station (ISS) will follow a double-loop pattern. It will take the spacecraft about 3 hours and 17 minutes to reach the ISS.

Peresild and Shipenko are planning to film the first motion picture in space. The drama under the working title called Challenge is a joint project by Roscosmos, Channel One and the Yellow, Black and White studio. It is a movie about a doctor, who despite being unfamiliar with the sphere of outer space, is forced by circumstance to fly to space in order to save a cosmonaut's life./TASS