Soyuz MS-19 was a
Soyuz
Soyuz is a transliteration of the Cyrillic text Союз (Russian language, Russian and Ukrainian language, Ukrainian, 'Union'). It can refer to any union, such as a trade union (''profsoyuz'') or the Soviet Union, Union of Soviet Socialist Republi ...
spaceflight which launched on 5 October 2021, at 08:55:02
UTC
Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) is the primary time standard globally used to regulate clocks and time. It establishes a reference for the current time, forming the basis for civil time and time zones. UTC facilitates international communica ...
.
It was the 147th flight of a crewed Soyuz spacecraft. The launching crew consisted of Russian commander
Anton Shkaplerov, Russian film director
Klim Shipenko
Klim Alekseevich Shipenko (; born 16 June 1983) is a Russian film director, screenwriter, cinematographer, actor, producer, and cosmonaut.
Biography Early life
Shipenko was born in Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union (now Russia).
In 2002, he ent ...
and Russian actress
Yulia Peresild.
Shipenko and Peresild spent about twelve days on the
International Space Station
The International Space Station (ISS) is a large space station that was Assembly of the International Space Station, assembled and is maintained in low Earth orbit by a collaboration of five space agencies and their contractors: NASA (United ...
before returning to
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to Planetary habitability, harbor life. This is enabled by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water. Almost all ...
aboard
Soyuz MS-18, while filming a movie in space,
''The Challenge'' ().
The MS-18 flight launched two crew members of the
Expedition 66.
Without an American astronaut, this launch marked the first time in more than 21 years (since
Soyuz TM-30 in 2000) that a Soyuz crew only included Russian cosmonauts and travelers and the ship had to be upgraded to be piloted by a single person at launch. This is also the first mission to the ISS with an entirely Russian crew.
Crew
Launch and docking
Soyuz MS-19 was launched on 5 October 2021, 08:55:02 and docked at 12:22:31 UTC following a three-hour, 2-orbit rendezvous profile, and after using a manual docking system operated by spacecraft commander
Anton Shkaplerov, to the ''
Rassvet'' module of the
ISS.
Background and film project
On 14 May 2021, the Interagency Committee approved the composition of the ISS main and alternate crews for the period 2021–2023. The crew of Soyuz MS-19 was decided then. Cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov (commander) and the crew of the film ''
The Challenge'': actress
Yulia Peresild and director
Klim Shipenko
Klim Alekseevich Shipenko (; born 16 June 1983) is a Russian film director, screenwriter, cinematographer, actor, producer, and cosmonaut.
Biography Early life
Shipenko was born in Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union (now Russia).
In 2002, he ent ...
, were chosen to go and went to the ISS on the Soyuz MS-19. The film drama was a joint project of
Roscosmos
The State Corporation for Space Activities "Roscosmos", commonly known simply as Roscosmos (), is a State corporation (Russia), state corporation of the Russian Federation responsible for space science, space flights, List of space agencies, c ...
,
Channel One and the
Yellow, Black and White studio. The back-up crew chosen after passing the medical committee was: New Drama Theater actress Alena Mordovina, director Alexei Dudin
and the commander
Oleg Artemyev
Oleg Germanovich Artemyev (; born December 28, 1970) is a Russian people, Russian Astronaut, Cosmonaut for the Russian Federal Space Agency. He was selected as part of the RKKE-15 Cosmonaut group in 2003. He was a flight engineer of Expedition 39 ...
. Since 24 May 2021, the crew members had been training at the
Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center
The Yuri A. Gagarin State Scientific Research-and-Testing Cosmonaut Training Center (GCTC; Russian: Центр подготовки космонавтов имени Ю. А. Гагарина) is a Russian training facility responsible for tra ...
.
On 23 July 2021, the prime crew participated in a four-hour simulation inside a Soyuz replica while wearing the Sokol suit, and on 28 July 2021, the back-up crew completed the same exercise. According to the back-up commander Oleg Artemyev the performance of the two back-up Spaceflight Participants was outstanding. On 30 July 2021, the spacecraft had its pre-launch preparation started. On 31 August 2021, the medical committee announced that both the main and reserve crews were healthy for space flight.
The filming equipment was launched at
Progress MS-17 and returned on Soyuz MS-18.
Reactions
The film, which according to Dmitry Rogozin, head of Roscosmos, is an "experiment to see if Roscosmos can prepare two ordinary people to fly in about 3 or 4 months" has received opposition from the scientific and aerospace communities, as to the fact that they remove trained cosmonauts from their flights, a misuse of public money, or even that using the station's resources for non-scientific purposes would be illegal.
Igor Krasnov,
Procurator General of Russia, has opened an investigation into whether the use of space station resources is illegal.
Sergei Krikalev
Sergei Konstantinovich Krikalev (, also transliterated as Sergei Krikalyov; born 27 August 1958) is a Russian mechanical engineer and former cosmonaut and head of the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center.
As a prominent rocket scientist, he ...
, director of crewed programs at Roscosmos, reportedly lost his position by speaking out against the project, but was reinstated after a few days following protests from cosmonauts on and off active duty.
[
]
Movie
Klim Shipenko shot about 35–40 minutes of film on the ISS, as well as taking on the positions of director, operator, art director, and makeup artist. Oleg Novitsky and Pyotr Dubrov will appear in the film, with Dubrov and Mark Vande Hei assisting in the production. Shkaplerov will appear in some scenes of the movie.
Expansion of Russian Orbital Segment
The ISS flight manifest drafted by Roscosmos in the fall of 2020 set the launch of the ''Prichal'' module for on 24 November 2021, with docking at ''Nauka''s nadir port two days later. The ''Prichal'' module will become the second addition to the Russian Orbital Segment
The Russian Orbital Segment (ROS) is the name given to the components of the International Space Station (ISS) constructed in Russia and operated by the Russian Roscosmos. The ROS handles Guidance, Navigation, and Control for the entire Station ...
(ROS) in 2021. One port on ''Prichal'' is equipped with an active hybrid docking port, which enables docking with the ''Nauka'' module. The remaining five ports are passive hybrids, enabling docking of Soyuz and Progress vehicles, as well as heavier modules and future spacecraft with modified docking systems. This will enable the Russian Orbital Segment to operate on its own after 2024.
To complete the integration of the UM ''Prichal'' into the Russian segment, cosmonauts Anton Shkaplerov and Petr Dubrov performed a spacewalk to lay cables between ''Nauka'' and ''Prichal''. This spacewalk occurred on 19 January 2022. Seven additional spacewalks will follow through 2022 to complete the integration of the ''Nauka'' and ''Prichal'' modules into the Russian Orbital Segment.
Return
The director and actress returned to Earth on 17 October 2021 on Soyuz MS-18 with commander Oleg Novitsky. Soyuz MS-19 landed on 30 March 2022.
After the successful landing of Soyuz MS-18, Dmitry Rogozin revealed that Konstantin Ernst
Konstantin Lvovich Ernst (; born 6 February 1961) is a Russian media manager, producer and TV host. He is currently the CEO of Channel One Russia.
Biography Early years and education
His father Lev Konstantinovich Ernst, of History of Germa ...
(Director General or CEO of Channel One) paid for Shipenko and Pereslid's seats.
Pyotr Dubrov and Mark Vande Hei finally landed on 30 March 2022 on Soyuz MS-19 with commander Anton Skhaplerov.
References
External links
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{{Space tourists
Crewed Soyuz missions
Spacecraft launched in 2021
2021 in Russia
Spacecraft launched by Soyuz-2 rockets
Fully civilian crewed orbital spaceflights