RUSSIA has released the first movie shot in space, beating the likes of others like Elon Musk and Tom Cruise who hoped to nab the title.
One of Russia’s top film actresses and a director flew to the International Space Station in 2021 to create the project, which premiered tonight in Moscow.
ReutersSuperstar Yulia looked thrilled to be welcomed onboard[/caption]
A professional film crew orbited for 11 days
“The Challenge” tells the story of a surgeon launched into space to help save the life of an astronaut onboard the ISS.
Director Klim Shipenko previously said: “This movie is built around a story of an ordinary person.
“A doctor who had nothing to do with space exploration and never thought about it is offered to travel to the ISS… and save a cosmonaut’s life.”
President Vladimir Putin praised the ground-breaking film at a gala held by the Kremlin earlier this month.
Vlad boasted: “We are the first to have shot a feature film in orbit, aboard a spacecraft. Once again the first.”
The film beat out the likes of another American competitor – a Hollywood project announced in 2020 which is set to star Tom Cruise.
The Russian film features one of the country’s most well-known actresses, Yulia Peresild.
Peresild and director Shipenko were launched into orbit in October 2021 to begin filming.
Shipenko reportedly captured 30 hours of footage, but only 50 minutes of it are used in the film.
Now the capsule which brought the actress and director back to earth after the film stint is on display in central Moscow.
Russian state-run media Channel One has sponsored the film, and CEO Konstantin Ernst boasted to reporters about the new film.
The film is estimated to cost roughly £10million, but Ernst wouldn’t disclose the full amount.
Polina Andreyeva, a 24-year-old marketing specialist from Moscow, said she was proud of the actors who were not afraid of venturing into space.
She said: “That is so scary.”
Photos and videos of Peresild and Shipenko arriving on the space craft went viral in 2021.
Peresild’s blonde hair was seen floating about in the zero gravity conditions, and she even had an astronaut portrait taken.
Last year, Russia launched a space probe that is thought to have stalked a US spy satellite.
Space journalist and publisher of RussianSpaceWeb.com, Anatoly Zak, Tweeted about the launch of the probe on Monday.
His tweet suggests the satellite was launched as a payload on the Soyuz-2.1v rocket from Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Russia.
This sparked rumours online that it will serve as an “inspector” satellite to covertly spy on nearby spacecraft.
The 14F150 Nivelir satellite was deployed into a Sun-Synchronous Orbit (SSO).
GettyAstronaut Anton Shkaplerov (C), along with film director Klim Shipenko (R) and actress Yulia Peresild (L)[/caption]
The clips look quite exciting
AFPYulia and Klim went through intense training before being launched[/caption]
AFPThe film is the first of it’s kind[/caption]
EPAVisitors have come in droves to see the space capsule which brought them back to earth[/caption]
AlamyThe film was estimated to cost around £10million[/caption]