Russia sends crew to shoot first feature film in space

If images have always accompanied space missions – from the first steps on the moon in 1969, to posts on the social networks of French astronaut Thomas Pesquet – then a feature film was never made across the Karman line. A Russian actress and director set out, Tuesday, October 5, in the morning, to shoot the first feature film in Astronomy in history, thus scoring symbolic points against American competitors, after years of disappointment. The stake is to push the film project into space with Tom Cruise, whose schedule is not known.

Accompanied by experienced cosmonaut, actress Yulia Peresild, 37, and director Klim Chebenko, 38, they flew to the International Space Station (ISS) aboard a Soyuz rocket from Russia’s Baikonur cosmodrome, in Kazakhstan, which docked with the International Space Station about three hours after liftoff. The team then ascended to the orbital station around 3 p.m., according to images released by the Russian space agency Roscosmos. “Everything was new to me today (…). I have the impression of a dream.”The actress said in a brief speech from the International Space Station broadcast by the Russian space agency Roscosmos. The team has twelve days to shoot satellite footage for a movie tentatively titled the challenge, a business whose budget is kept secret, and a doctor appears whose mission is to rescue an astronaut.

The director and actress appeared relaxed at a press conference on Monday. This first feature film in space will have value” expertise “Chipenko, who will handle the camera and take care of the makeup and lighting in the narrow space of the Russian part of the International Space Station, appreciated. “I have no one to turn to for advice. I don’t have a photographer to ask how to shoot in the light of the porthole »Don is.

Score a point against an American opponent

Beyond this first technical trip, this trip should allow Moscow to score a point against the American rival, in the context of heightened tensions. For the Russian space agency Roscosmos, the film should restore a reputation tarnished by corruption scandals, serial blackouts, and the loss of a lucrative monopoly on manned flights to the International Space Station, ever since. Space X’s entry, Elon Musk in management. For Roscosmos, it comes down to the following “Victory over NASA and Space X” Based on ‘Distracting’ [vis-à-vis de ses] Problems “said political scientist Konstantin Kalachev.

And the Russian agency had suddenly revealed its cinematic project in 2020, after announcing a filming project on board the International Space Station with the star of the saga, Tom Cruise. Mission: Impossible. The two first space travelers, characters from Russian cinema, underwent rapid training to learn how to withstand violent acceleration to take off or move in zero gravity.

So Russia intends to join the space tourism race, which has accelerated in recent months with the flights of American and British billionaires Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson. And so it should push a Japanese billionaire into space in December.

Roscosmos’ other ambitions include creating a Russian space station and a Russian-Chinese station in orbit, even on the moon, after Moscow decided to close the door of a lunar project in Washington considered too focused on America. But none of these projects yet have a specific budget or timeline.