Russian film crew flies to International Space Station

Russian cosmonaut Oleg Novitsky, who is staying on board the International Space Station, captured the historic launch of the Soyuz MS-19 manned transport spacecraft.

This spacecraft will deliver on board the ISS members of the ISS-66 expedition, including the world's first civilian "film crew" represented by actress Yulia Peresild and director Klim Shipenko.

Novitsky, who watched the launch from space, posted the picture on his Twitter page with a caption:

“Astrey, we watched your flight from the International Space Station! We are waiting for you in 3 hours! "

Shipenko and Peresild will spend at least 12 days on board the ISS. There they will work on the film titled "Challenge," the first-ever feature film to be filmed in space.

The footage shot in space will take 35-40 minutes of screen time. Active Russian cosmonauts Oleg Novitsky and Pyotr Dubrov, who are now on board the ISS, will star in the film as well. It is planned that cosmonaut Novitsky will deliver the film crew in the face of Peresild and Shipenko back to Earth on October 17.

The space drama with the tentative title "Challenge" tells the story of a cardiac surgeon Zhenya (Yulia Peresild), who needs to prepare for a space flight within a month to perform a heart surgery on one of the cosmonauts in zero gravity to save him.