[imagesource:here]

Around the time that Elon Musk won (and Jeff Bezos lost) the space race to take people to the moon with a contract from NASA, Musk (along with NASA) was also working on a project to take Tom Cruise to space to shoot a new movie.

A movie… in actual space.

Okay, now that that has settled in, we can move on.

Russia has just announced that they will also be sending an actor and director to the International Space Station in October, to make their own first feature film in space.

As it turns out, Cruise and director Doug Liman are also set to travel to space in October for their movie, although the exact date is not yet clear.

The announcement from Russia suggests an intention to beat the Americans.

Back at it again, it seems, with another space race.

Here’s more from The Guardian:

Russia was first reported to be mounting a rival production last year, shortly after plans were confirmed last summer for Cruise, who will be 59 at the time of his mission, to go into low Earth orbit, backed by Nasa and Elon Musk.

Meanwhile, in November last year, Russian space agency Roscosmos put out a casting announcement:

[Searching for] “a real superhero to go to the stars … at the same time as becoming a big international star”.

The role for the female lead required a candidate with very specific dimensions, although no previous acting experience was needed.

They’ll need to be a Russian citizen between 25 and 40 years of age, weighing between 50 and 70 kilograms with a “chest girth” of up to 112 centimetres:

“Additionally, she must be able to run 1km in three and a half minutes or less, swim 800 metres freestyle in 20 minutes, and dive from a 3-metre springboard with an impressive technique.”

I imagine there must have been mahy ambitious Russian women furiously measuring their chests so that they could apply.

Yulia Peresild, 36, and the director Klim Shipenko, 37, were the women chosen at the end of the day:

Both will undergo training including centrifuge tests and flights in zero gravity, starting no later than 1 June.

This pre-flight boot camp will be documented by one of Russia’s main TV channels, Channel One, which will also be involved in producing the film.

The only details known about the plot of the film is that Roscosmos wants a “space drama” that can “popularise Russia’s space activities, as well as to glorify cosmonaut profession”.

Both Russia and America are involved in some pretty pioneering action, but who will be the first to launch their crew to space?

Only time will tell.

[source:guradian]