The space race appears set for a relaunch following the news that Russia is to send an actor and director to the International Space Station in October, with the ambition of making the first feature film in space.
While on the space station they could encounter some fellow film-makers: Tom Cruise and the director Doug Liman, who are also due to travel there in October to make a movie.
On Thursday it was announced that the actor Yulia Peresild, 36, and the director Klim Shipenko, 37, had been chosen.
No further details of the plot or about Peresild’s role have been released. Roscosmos’s director general, Dmitry Rogozin, will co-produce the film.