Roscosmos - Soyuz MS-19 - Launch Pad #31/6 - Baikonur - October 5, 2021

Soyuz MS-19 is a crewed flight to the International Space Station (ISS) that will give a start to Expedition 66.

The flight is a different mission from all the missions flows before. A Russian Soyuz commander will be attended by two space flight participants to do movie shots onboard the ISS. The movie is called "The Challenge". Not a lot is known about the script, but it is about a young female medical doctor who has to be brought up to the International Space Station ISS to save a cosmonauts life.

For that, the crew will include commander Anton Shkaplerov, film director Klim Shipenko, and actress Yulia Peresild. ROSCOSMOS will launch this mission using a Soyuz MS spacecraft atop a Soyuz 2.1a launch vehicle. The rocket will lift off from Launch Complex 31/6, at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

“The Challenge” is a joint project of ROSCOSMOS, the First Channel TV station and the Yellow, Black and White studio. The name of the actress who will be starring in the movie was announced on May 14 and was chosen from a shortlist of 20 actresses. Thus, Yulia Peresild who is well-known in the Russian domestic TV and movie industry got a unique chance to demonstrate her acting skills in space.

On this mission, all the crew members will perform different roles. First, the spacecraft will be piloted by a single person, ROSCOSMOS cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov. Therefore, he will carry out the functions of both commander and flight engineer. For that, the Soyuz MS spacecraft and its replica at the training centre were upgraded with a portable remote control for critical commands that are usually executed by a flight engineer. Moreover, together with Oleg Novitsky and Peter Dubrov, he will appear in some scenes of the movie. Then, Klim Shipenko will work not only as a film director but also as a camera and sound operator, and lighting director. Finally, apart from having the lead role in the movie, Yulia Peresild will need to be her own stylist and makeup artist. During the flight, Shipenko and Peresild will be responsible for oxygen valves that will need to be opened in emergency situations.

This mission will be different since it will mark the first time in 21 years that a Soyuz crew only includes Russian cosmonauts and travellers. The last mission that launched only Russian cosmonauts was Soyuz TM-30 in 2000. Flying on Soyuz MS-19 are ROSCOSMOS cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov (commander), Klim Shipenko (film director), as well as Yulia Peresild (actress).

The launch is scheduled for October 5, 2021, at 4:55 a.m EDT / 08:55 UTC / 10:55 CEST) from launchpad 31/6 of the Russian Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan. The Soyuz MS-19 spacecraft will use a Soyuz 2.1a rocket configuration.

Видео Roscosmos - Soyuz MS-19 - Launch Pad #31/6 - Baikonur - October 5, 2021 канала SPACE AFFAIRS