Russian crew wraps pioneering film in space, ready to return to Earth

Shkaplerov will remain on the space station and return to Earth in March with NASA astronaut Mark Vandy and Roscosmos astronaut Peter Dubrov aboard the Soyuz MS-19 spacecraft. When Vande Hei lands after 355 consecutive days on the space station, he will have completed the longest spaceflight by an astronaut in US history, according to NASA.

Nowitzki’s return to Earth Sunday morning comes after he spent 191 days in space on his third mission, and will have traveled 531 days in space on three separate flights.

In addition to Shkaplerov, Vandy Hee, and Dubrov, the current space station crew includes ESA astronaut Thomas Bisquet; NASA astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Megan MacArthur; and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Akihiko Hoshied.

space photography

Some movies have been filmed aboard the space station, including a 2002 IMAX documentary narrated by Tom Cruise. “Apogee of Fear,” a 2012 science fiction movie released in about eight minutes, was filmed in space by space entrepreneur and space tourist Richard Garriott, the son of an astronaut.

But Russia became the first country to shoot a feature film in space.

Peresild and Shipenko, who are known in Russia, were chosen after the Russian space agency Roscosmos opened a competition for candidates in November ((2020?)). Peresild has appeared in several Russian films and TV series, while Shipenko 2020 Surf was one of the highest-grossing Russian films.

The two civilians underwent rigorous training before their flight into space. Along with the students, the actor and director prepared themselves by doing centrifugal and vibration tests, zero-gravity flight training and parachute training, all covered by Channel One.

Other astronauts on board, including Novitskiy, assisted and served as part of the film’s crew because production resources were limited in the space environment.