Moscow: A Soyuz space capsule carrying a cosmonaut and two Russian filmmakers has landed after a 3.5-hour trip from the International Space Station.
The capsule, descending under a red-and-white striped parachute after entering Earth’s atmosphere, landed upright in the steppes of Kazakhstan on schedule at 12:35 E.T. Saturday with cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy, actress Yulia Peresild and film director Klim Shipenko aboard.
Peresild and Shipenko rocketed to the space station on Oct. 5 for a 12-day stint to film segments of a movie titled “Challenge,” in which a surgeon played by Peresild rushes to the space station to save a crew member who needs an urgent operation in orbit. Novitskiy, who spent more than six months aboard the space station, is to star as the ailing cosmonaut in the movie.
After the landing, which sent plumes of dust flying high in the air, ground crews extracted the trio from the capsule and placed them in seats set up nearby as they adjusted to the pull of gravity. They were then taken to a medical tent for examination.All appeared healthy and cheerful.
Peresild smiled and held a large bouquet of white flowers as journalists clustered around her. But she said she also felt a touch of melancholy.
A Russian trio said farewell to the station crew and closed the Soyuz MS-18 crew ship hatch at 4:41pm ET today. They undock at 9:14pm this evening. More... https://t.co/Hwwr4AEUI7 pic.twitter.com/aXFOtG2H1O
— International Space Station (@Space_Station) October 16, 2021
The transfer to the medical tent was delayed for about 10 minutes while crews filmed several takes of Peresild and Novitskiy in their seats, which are to be included in the movie. More scenes remain to be shot on Earth for the film whose release date is uncertain.
