After filming the first movie shot in space, a Russian film crew returned from their historic trip to space on Sunday. The crew spent a total of 12 days at the International Space Station.
Earlier this month, the two-person crew of filmmakers went to the International Space Station. This crew consisted of actress Yulia Pereslid and director Klin Shipenko. They were accompanied by cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov in the Russian Baikonur Cosmodrome. They arrived on the 5th of October.
More About the Russian Film Crew’s Movie
A total of 10 people boarded the spacecraft named Soyuz MS-18 when they returned home.
The film, titled ‘The Challenge’, focuses on the story of a surgeon who is sent to the International Space Station with the purpose of saving a cosmonaut’s life. Oleg Novitsky, a cosmonaut, will play the role of the space traveler. Shkaplerov and fellow cosmonaut Pyotr Dubrov are to make appearances in this film as well.
“I am not afraid,” Pereslid said during a news conference. “Fear is normal.”
The crew conducted a huge portion of the filming in the Russian part of the station. However, some of the scenes allegedly involved the US Tranquility Node’s cupola window. This window faces the Earth and shows a stunning view of our planet from up high.
Because of this film project’s schedule, Pyotr Dubrov and American astronaut Mark Vande Hei, who were with Oleg Novitsky in April, are to remain on the station six months longer. This means that they will spend a record-breaking duration of about a year in the orbiting lab. They will return home to Earth with Shkaplerov in April 2022.
Embarking on a Rough Road During This Historic Trip
Though the mission was a success, it wasn’t a hundred percent free of minor bumps.
When the film crew arrived at the International Space Station, the situation required cosmonaut Shkaplerov to switch to manual control. Furthermore, on Friday, during the Russian flight controllers’ test on the Soyuz MS-18, the spacecraft’s thruster unexpectedly fired. This left the space station destabilized for a whole 30 minutes, as was reported by a NASA spokesperson.
A tweet from the International Space Station revealed that the Soyuz MS-18 crew ship undocked at 9.14 pm on the 16th of October 2021.
What This Means for the Future of Filmmaking and Space Travel
Russian space agency Roscosmos has achieved what nobody has done before. Beating NASA, Russia has successfully filmed the first full-length movie in space. Last year, NASA and Elon Musk’s SpaceX announced that, together with actor Tom Cruise, they will be working on a Hollywood project filmed in space. This film, currently unnamed, is scheduled to shoot in October 2021.
These projects mark a new era for filmmaking and space travel. With these new technological advances, there’s plenty of potential for more filmmakers to follow in the path Russia has carved out.