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The first dog in space. First man and woman. Now Russia is about to clinch another space flight before the United States: putting Hollywood into orbit.

A Russian actress, a director, and professional Russian astronaut guides will launch a Russian rocket to the International Space Station on Tuesday morning. Their job is to shoot the scenes of the first feature film in space. While cinematic scenes in space have long been shown on big screens using sound stages and advanced computer graphics, never before has a feature film shot and directed in space.

When and how can I watch the launch?

A Soyuz rocket, the horsepower of Russia’s space program, is scheduled to take off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 04:55 ET. The MS-19 spacecraft, carrying a crew of three, is expected to dock at the space station approximately three hours later, at 08:12.

NASA, which manages the space station in partnership with Russia, The launch will begin airing at 4:15 p.m. Eastern time. Another live broadcast for the docking of the spacecraft will begin at 7:30 am.

Who is on the plane?

Russian actress Yulia Peresild and director Klim Shipenko will join veteran astronaut Anton Shkaplerov, who has completed three trips to and from the space station since 2011. Ms. Peresild trained for the task for months. Earlier this year, she auditioned for the role in a contest with dozens of other actresses. Second in the competition, Alyona Mordovina, Miss Peresild’s backup and primary crew would go into orbit if anything prevented the launch into space.

What movie are they shooting on the space station?

The movie’s working title is “The Challenge” and is about a surgeon played by Miss Peresild, who embarks on an emergency mission to the space station to save the life of a sick cosmonaut. A few other details about the plot or the footage at the station have been revealed.

Why are they filming in orbit?

The cinematic storytelling for “The Challenge” can override the symbolism of filming in space. The production is a collaborative project involving Russia’s space agency Roscosmos; Channel One Russia, a state-sponsored TV channel; and Yellow, Black and White, a Russian film studio.

Like many special missions to space these days, Channel One and Roscosmos hope the movie will prove to the public that space isn’t just reserved for government astronauts. He said on the Channel One website that one of the main goals of the production was to show that “space flight is gradually becoming available not only to professionals, but also to a wider range of interested people.”

Funding for Russia’s space program is starting to dwindle. Beginning in 2011, when the US space shuttle program ended, NASA was able to send astronauts to the International Space Station by paying for expensive trips on one of Russia’s Soyuz rockets. However, that ended in 2020 when SpaceX’s Crew Dragon proved that it could send astronauts from American soil. And recently the United States finished purchases The launch of a Russian rocket engine long used for NASA and the Pentagon has generated billions of dollars in revenue for Moscow.