Russian Movie in Space Part 11

 Final Countdown for Russian

“Movie in Space” Project

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

Now those two actresses, Julia Peresild and Alyona Mordovina are among the six crew members, at the Baikonur cosmodrome, ready for the launch on 5th October. 

As this update was being prepared, all indications are that the prime crew Anton Shkaplerov, Klim Shipenko and Julia Peresild will make the flight, and the Movie. However, a final decision won't be announced until the State Commission meet on Monday 4th October.

The last three weeks have been very busy for both crews as they moved through the carefully scheduled series of milestones which precede every Soyuz launch. On 8th and 9th September, both crew undertook the so called 'Complex Examinations' at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre. This involves tests on the crews' knowledge of the Soyuz and ISS Russian Segment, and requires them to deal with a complex sequence of system failures and malfunctions, under the scrutiny of examiners and instructors.

Both crews achieved the required 'pass' in both exams, with the back-up crew achieving slightly better scores 9.56 to 9.50 (out of 10). However, a few days later the planned crew assignments were confirmed by the Interdepartmental Commission; Prime - Shkaplerov, Shipenko and Peresild; Back-up - Artemyev, Dudin, Mordovina. 

Immediately after this decision, a further sequence of cosmonaut traditions began with a crew Press Conference, followed by a visit to Red Square, where flowers were laid on the tombs of Yuri Gagarin and Sergei Korolev. Unusually, Klim Shipenko did not take part in the Red Square ceremony, which caused surprise among some observers.

Julia Peresild, who had previously used her social media posts to make it clear that she had found the training very difficult, was clearly relieved to have passed the final exams, and was in a very positive and upbeat mood, for the first time in several weeks. Her understudy, Alyona Mordovina, explained that she had found the training experience to be enjoyable and enriching, rather than difficult, although she had been nervous during her cinematic audition with Klim Shipenko.

The next milestone was the departure to Baikonur, a tense occasion which involved the crews saying farewell to family members, which for Julia Peresild included her two daughters. However, the two actresses encouraged the crews to introduce new traditions and photo opportunities, as shown below. 

A few hours later, both crews, who had flown on seperate aircraft, arrived at Baikonur, which was much warmer than Moscow had been. The arrival procedures included clearing Border Control, as they were entering Kazakhstan.

                                                                     

The following day, Sunday 19th September, both crews spent the whole day on the first stage of accepting the Soyuz MS-19 spacecraft, and their Sokol flight suits. This involved each crew boarding the craft in their flight overalls, and undertaking various checks and noting any recommendations for refinements or changes. Later in the day, the crews donned their personally tailored Sokol suits and took their seats in the Soyuz for a second time. This check is usually only performed by the prime crew, but on this occasion, the back-up crew also performed the process.

The following 10 days have seen the crews undertaking a busy schedule of training, medical tests, vestibular preparations and further long-standing traditions such as flag raising, tree planting, and visiting various historical locations around the Baikonur complex.

Alyona Mordovina revealed, on her Instagram, that the crews have created a new tradition, by watching a movie, from Klim Shipenko's collection, each evening. She also wrote about the strong bond and atmosphere of mutual support and fun which has developed between the two crews.

On 29th September, the crews revisited the Building 254 location to complete the final acceptance on the Soyuz MS-19, before it is mated to the booster, ready for rollout to the launchpad, on 3rd October.                         

                                                          

Meanwhile, the TV station participating in the project have started to ramp up their coverage, beginning with retrospective coverage of the selection of the two actresses, back in March, and the spaceflight training which began in May. 

These programmes showed that the demanding and daunting process which Julia Peresild, Alyona Mordovina and Aleksey Dudin came through was exactly the same as used for screening professional cosmonaut candidates, and culminated in a challenging 8-G centrifuge run. Consider that no female applicants were successful in the 2018 or 2020 cosmonaut selection groups, and then the rapid pace of their training, testing and preparation, over the Summer, and Julia Peresild and Alyona Mordovina should feel very proud of themselves, for being where they are now. 

As we finalised this Blog, the back-up crew had just observed another Baikonur tradition by witnessing the rollout of the booster to the launchpad, at T-4 days.

The next Space Sleuthing update on the Soyuz MS-19 mission will come after the launch.

Images by Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre

Words by Tony Quine