Russian Actress Yulia Peresild Returns Safely Aboard Soyuz MS-18 After Shooting First Movie in Space

A Russian actress has successfully returned to Earth's surface aboard Soyuz MS-18 after staying on the International Space Station for 12 days to film the first-ever movie shot in space.

First-Ever Movie Shot on Space

Yulia Peresild, 37, and Klim Shipenko, 38, visited the space station. The two citizens were able to survive the landing from their movie mission at one of the regions in Kazakhstan. The whole operation was filmed live by the Russian government space agency called Roscosmos.

Shipenko was observed by many with his distressed emotions after landing. However, this was shrouded by the cheerfulness he had when he smiled at the camera. The director waved his hands to the audience while the paramedic team and other experts assisted the actress and Shipenko out of the vessel.

Peresild is the lead star for the film that was the first ever to be shot from the space station. The actress had been selected from among the 3,000 participants who auditioned for the role. The crowd on the landing spot congratulated the actress by giving her collective applause and beautiful flowers after she exited the spacecraft.

According to the interview conducted by the Russian television, Peresild was sad to leave the space station. The actress added that she experienced a seemingly long span of stay aboard the orbital laboratory but later realized that it was actually short. Peresild wasn't ready to leave the space station yet.

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The Challenge: Russia's New Space Race Invitation?

The actress said it was a one-time experience before getting into the vehicle that transported them to the Russian stations. The landing of the actress and director was assisted by a cosmonaut and ISS expert, Oleg Novitsky, who resided in the laboratory for six consecutive months.

The scenes from the film, titled "The Challenge," were shot by the filmmakers on the space station with the help of ISS veteran cosmonaut Anton Shkplerov. The launch of the team aboard the Soyuz MS-18 was conducted from a Russian spaceport called the Baikonur Cosmodrome. The operational spaceport, which is also the biggest around the globe, is located in the ex-Soviet country of Kazakhstan.

"The Challenge" is set to clash head to head with Tom Cruise's "Mission Impossible." The US film scenes will also be recorded in space with the help of Elon Musk's SpaceX and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration NASA.