Not just scientific experiments and a peace laboratory.
For 10 days, the International Space Station (ISS) will also become the first film set in orbit.
In fact, the three new Russian crew members have arrived on board: actress Yulia Peresild and director Klim Shipenko, who will stay 12 days to film some scenes of the film 'Challenge'.
Cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov, who will remain in orbit until March, arrived with them on the Russian Soyuz shuttle.
Launched as scheduled at 10:55 Italian time, the Soyuz docked with the Space Station with a slight delay, at 14:22 instead of 14:12, as was expected. During the approach the Kurs automatic docking system encountered a problem and was deactivated. The last few meters of approach and docking were then carried out manually by Shkaplerov. He was the first to open the hatch and enter, followed by actress Peresild and director Shipenko, who greeted the new commander of Expedition 65, Thomas Pesquet of ESA, NASA astronauts Mark Vande Hei, Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur, the Japanese Aki Hoshide and the Russians Oleg Novitskiy and Pyotr Dubrov.
The arrival of the new crew marks a new space record for Russia over America, which despite having won the race for the moon, cannot include the first satellite, the first man in space, the first woman, the first spacewalk and the first space station.
Today, Russia is aiming to reach another record, with an actress and a director on the Space Station to film the scenes of a film about a medical emergency in orbit, thus surpassing any Western actor.
In fact, NASA is not planning anything of the kind, even if Tom Cruise seems to be considering a similar project. In the film 'The Challenge', Peresild will play a Russian doctor, Shkaplerov, Novitskiy and Dubrov instead will assist her and will likely have a small role in the film. Shipenko will be in charge of lighting, makeup and video. Surely the next few days will be busy for the two Russian artists.
"We will have 10 days, but not 10 days of 12 hours of work, but 2-3 hours a day - commented Peresild - when the cosmonauts will be able to work with us. The rest of the time Klim and I will be able to work with only me on the screen and we will have to do it without interfering with the crew. "
Peresild and Shipenko were assigned to the Soyuz MS-19 and the 65S crew last May, after being selected in an open competition at the end of 2020. So little time they had to prepare.
