Russia film crew set to blast off to make 1st movie in space

By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV
Associated Press

MOSCOW (AP) — In a historic first, Russia is set to launch an actor and a film director to space to make a feature film in orbit. The project has been hailed by Russia’s space chief as a chance to raise the prestige of the nation’s space program. Actor Yulia Peresild and director Klim Shipenko are set to blast off Tuesday for the International Space Station in a Russian Soyuz spacecraft together with cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov, a veteran of three space missions. After 12 days on the space outpost, Peresild and Klimenko will return to Earth with another Russian cosmonaut. Speaking at a news conference at the Russian launch facility in Baikonur, Kazakhstan, Peresild acknowledged that the training for the mission was grueling but she described it as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.