A Russian actress and director blasted off on Tuesday beating Tom Cruise in the race as this is the first movie shot in space.
The Soyuz MS-19 spacecraft that orbits Earth at an altitude of about 220 miles is all set to dock.
Russian media provided patriotic coverage in the run-up with a countdown clock running on Channel One and the world is watching closely. The launch of the film “The challenge” put Russia on course to beat the U.S.
In the film, Pereslid plays the role of a doctor who is asked to travel to the space station in order to save a cosmonaut’s life. Director Klim Shipenko, whose height of 1.9 metres (6 feet 2 inches) makes the flight in a small capsule especially challenging, has already said he is looking forward to a Mars-based sequel.
The rocket was launched from the Baikonur cosmodrome which Russia leases on the steppes of Kazakhstan.
