Russian Movie in Space Part 10

 

Russian 'Movie in Space' preparations enter the final month.

For nine months, we’ve been carefully following the progress of the Russian ‘Movie in Space’ project “Challenge” (Vyzov). We were the first media channel to break several aspects of the story, including the names of the final four actresses, back in  April

Now, with just a month left until a Russian actress goes into space on Soyuz MS-19, we enter the most critical stages of the preparations. The two crews, Anton Shkaplerov, Klim Shipenko and Julia Peresild (prime) and Oleg Artemyev, Aleksey Dudin and Alyona Mordovina (back-up) have more or less completed their training, in the shortest time attempted by any Russian space crew. On 31st  August, all were passed as fit for spaceflight, by the State Medical Commission. They are now preparing for the final tests, which will determine which crew will be the first all-Russian crew to go into space for over twenty years.

Of course, Shkaplerov, Shipenko and Peresild are currently in the prime seats, but there is a chance that the back-ups may perform better, in the complex examinations, or that the final selection could be a combination of both the training crews. 

As we will explore below, with the accelerated training regime and the unusual nature of the flight, and crew, it is still all to play for. As a cosmonaut told me recently, "Several options are still open!" The Interdepartmental Commission who will determine the final crew line-up, are due to meet in mid-September.

On 5^th September, Moscow’s Channel One TV began broadcasting a ‘behind the scenes’ documentary, which will continue weekly, until after the Soyuz landing on 17^th October. The first episode began to follow the process through which the three thousand applicants for the role were reduced to twenty, then four and finally two, Julia Peresild and Alyona Mordovina. The first episode can be viewed here.

Roscosmos have said that this coverage will allow the viewers to appreciate the ‘professionalism, skill and courage of the many specialists engaged in the Russian space sector.’ 

According to the schedule released by the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre, on 8^th and 9^th September, the two crews will participate in the critical final examinations. This involves each crew performing a simulated Soyuz launch, docking, and landing, while dealing with various off-nominal situations created by  their instructors and examiners. They then perform a similar exercise in the ISS Russian Segment, carrying out routine duties and actions, interspersed with further problems and challenges to resolve. The nature of the emergencies is determined by the crew selecting one of several sealed envelopes which each contain a different combination of challenges. As each crew includes a female cosmonaut, it is the usual protocol that the Commander allows them to choose the envelope!

After this, there will be a period of rest and relaxation, before the Interdepartmental Commission meets on 16^th September to announce which crew will fly, and to authorise the start of the pre-launch phase, and departure to Baikonur, which is planned for 18^th. Between these two events, the crews will perform one of the great Russian pre-flight traditions and visit Red Square to lay flowers at Yuri Gagarin’s tomb.

The extended interval between the examinations and the Interdepartmental Commission, compared to other recent Soyuz launch campaigns, suggests that the Commission members anticipate needing a little longer than usual to determine the crew which will fly. 

Historically, several Spaceflight Participants have been elevated (and others demoted) at this stage, and they may be preparing for a similar situation, here. The Commission includes representatives of the divisions of Roscosmos, RSC Energiya, but does not include anyone from Channel One. It is purely a cosmonautics decision.

There are several indications that Julia Peresild has found the training very challenging. Earlier in the Summer, reports from sources within the GCTC had indicated that she was struggling with the vast amount of technical information she was required to absorb rapidly and was being significantly outperformed by her back-up, Alyona Mordovina. 

In late August, the same sources mentioned that Peresild was "clearly under a lot of pressure from different directions".

The four Spaceflight Participants are not allowed to give formal interviews, but each has used Social Media to convey information about their experiences and thoughts. Julia Peresild, has 400,000 followers, has posted several photographs, texts and videos to her audience and has been remarkably honest and open about how difficult she has found the training. On 27^th August, she wrote “The word hard, does not come close to describing how it is.” Peresild has also mentioned, on several occasions that she is ‘scared’ about what she is going to do. 

On the other hand, Alyona Mordovina has been very positive in her Social Media posts. She is clearly grateful for the extraordinary opportunity and experience which she has had over the last few months. Her technical performance we mentioned above, and she seems to be relaxed and confident and totally ready to step in, if Peresild does falter, or fails to satisfy the Interdepartmental Commission.

Channel One will want to maintain interest in the TV show, throughout September, and will, no doubt, want some unexpected events, and drama, to maintain public interest in the project and their TV coverage. Some changes to the crew, and therefore the star of the movie might deliver that! The coming few weeks will still be interesting!

Incidentally, in a display of typical showmanship, the Head of Roscosmos, Dmitri Rogozin, has invited Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson to attend the Soyuz MS-19 launch. However, so far, he doesn’t appear to have invited Tom Cruise, whose plans to fly to the ISS with SpaceX, caused the Russian authorities to initiate this project in September 2020. 

In tandem with the flight training and preparations, the two crews have been undertaking technical rehearsals for the ISS movie filming, which is planned to produce around 35-40 minutes of screen content. As the plot revolves around a surgical procedure being carried out on the ISS, some photos have been released showing the mock-up of the newly arrived Nauka (MLM) Module, being used as a makeshift operating theatre. Some Russian media sources have reported that the training schedule overlooked the need for these rehearsals and so they have mostly been held at the weekends!

Images by Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre and Sasha Gusov

Words by Tony Quine