A Russian actor and a film director rocketed to space Tuesday on a mission to make the world’s first movie in orbit, a project the Kremlin said will help burnish the nation’s space glory
Roscosmos cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov, actress Yulia Peresild and producer Klim Shipenko lifted aboard Russia's Soyuz MS-19 spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 4.55 a.m. EDT (2.25 p.m. Tuesday, India time).
Russia, first as the Soviet Union, and the United States have competed fiercely to reach various space exploration milestones: Russia launched the first satellite and put the first man and woman in space, but NASA beat it to the Moon landing. The Russian movie titled "The challenge" focuses on a story of a doctor, portrayed by actress Yulia Peresild, who is asked to travel to the space station to save a cosmonaut's life.
The Russian crew is set to beat a Hollywood project that was announced last year by "Mission Impossible" star Tom Cruise together with NASA and Elon Musk's SpaceX.