The two – accompanied by Russian astronaut Anton Shkaplerov – have just been launched.

The Soyuz capsule took off a few minutes ago from Baikonur, the largest rocket launch site in the world, located in Kazakhstan. In addition to the experienced Russian astronaut Anton Shkaplerov, there are also two special passengers on board: the actress Yulia Peresild and director Klim Shipenko.

Movie recordings

For the latter, it is not strictly a pleasure trip. They fly together with Shkaplerov to the International Space Station to shoot some scenes for a new movie.

12 days

Peresild and Shipenko will arrive on the ISS today and spend 12 days in the space station, the Russian space agency reports. Shkaplerov – who has already completed three missions to the ISS – is staying a little longer; his stay should last 174 days.

Busy stuff

The three join the seven astronauts already on board the ISS and currently under the command of European astronaut Thomas Pesquet. Three of these seven astronauts will return to Earth later this month along with Peresild and Shipenko.

Imagery

Shipenko and Peresild hope to bring the necessary visual material with them. This is then processed into a feature film about a doctor who has to head into space to help an astronaut with health problems. In addition to Peresild, Shkaplerov would also star in the film.

training

For Shipenko and Peresild, their space adventure has not begun in a rush; they had to undergo four months of training to fly to the ISS. Although that was quite an intensive and grueling training, it is of course still nothing compared to the years of training that astronauts enjoy.

The Russian space agency Roscosmos hopes the actress and director’s flight and the resulting film will inspire others to pursue careers in aerospace and technology. Uncontroversial is the decision to launch an actress and director to a place designed for important research, certainly not. But the opening up of the space has officially started and the Russian stunt will undoubtedly be followed; NASA has previously announced that it is looking forward to working on a film that takes place on board the ISS and in which Tom Cruise plays the lead role.