TASS Challenge movie interviews – Yulia Peresild, Anton Shkaplerov
TASS, 12/4/2023
Yulia Peresild: this is space, baby!
TASS: On April 12, the Moscow premiere will take place, and on the 20th, the all-Russian screening of the feature film Challenge will start, the shooting of which took place, among other things, on board the International Space Station (ISS). This is a joint project of Channel One and the state corporation Roskosmos. On October 5, 2021, director Klim Shipenko and actress Yulia Peresild, who had previously undergone accelerated training in Star City, were the first in the world among filmmakers to go to the ISS.
TASS: On the eve of the premiere, the head of the TASS special project “First Persons,” Andrei Vandenko, spoke with the Honored Artist of Russia Yulia Peresild and the commander of the Soyuz MS-19 spacecraft Anton Shkaplerov. Yulia spoke about the feelings and emotions of a neophyte after returning from where none of her colleagues in the world has ever been.
About the watershed, checks, selection, hissing, prayers, resentments and mother’s illness
TASS: Let’s start with the main question, Yulia ….
Have I flown into space?
TASS: Are you kidding?
Peresild: Not a bit! You can’t even imagine how many people are ironically sure: in reality there was nothing, the film was shot entirely in the pavilions of Mosfilm, the space was drawn using computer graphics, and Klim and I were mounted there. But these people are equally firmly convinced that the Earth is flat, and therefore I do not try to explain or prove anything to them. Let them live in captivity of delusions and illusions!
On the other hand, I can understand and even accept someone else’s skepticism and doubts. If everything had not happened to me, I would not have believed in the reality of filming a feature film in space either. Until the last second, I was afraid of only one thing: already at Baikonur I would go up to the rocket, and then someone with a TV camera would jump out from around the corner and shout: “Stop! It was the program.” Draw. Filmed!
Really feared! After all, so much has been done … And now I’m not talking about physical exertion or the seemingly terrible centrifuge. There was a lot to go through inside. If something happened and we suddenly did not fly, the bummer would have turned out to be extremely cruel.
TASS: So, October 5 divided your life into before and after? Actually, I was going to ask if this phrase is not banal?
Peresild: No, no, this is not a hackneyed stamp, everything was just like that! Absolutely clear boundary, boundary.
TASS: What’s left before?
Peresild: The desire to prove to anyone and anything. She returned to Earth much more calm than before.
TASS: Did you get rid of reflections in two weeks of flight?
Peresild: Uncertainty in the artist can not go anywhere. She stayed with me. I’m talking about something else. I realized: if someone does not believe in me, you need to go to those who are on my side. And stay with them. That’s all. Otherwise, you will spend your life on evidence, but still you will not convince. But this conclusion did not come immediately. It didn’t happen on October 17 when we landed. It took some time to rethink.
Fortunately, I have not experienced clinical death, but I suspect that people who have experienced it experience something similar. Global re-evaluation of everything. It’s hard to describe, and even hard to understand. It’s like you see something that others can’t see. Completely new space. And condition.
TASS: What is the most appropriate word?
Ten people on the station, including Americans, and an amazing sense of camaraderie ….
I consider myself a good friend, I can feel those who are nearby. In space, people are amazingly honest and open. Probably because they understand that every day can be the last. And in such an atmosphere, I really enjoyed myself.
Although fears and experiences, of course, were. I’m alive. At the same time, I repeat, I experienced absolute happiness.
TASS: Cosmonaut colleagues arranged strength tests for you?
Peresild: Necessarily. Where without it? Before the flight, Klim and I were tested for six months. In any way ….
TASS: Were you mentally prepared for not the most kind reception?
Peresild: No, I’m used to the fact that the audience loves me. Of course, there are those who do not like me as an actress, but in general I always meet a positive attitude. And then suddenly faced with an inexplicable prejudice ….
It was painful and very embarrassing. But what can you do?
TASS: When did you hear about the project?
Peresild: In November 2020. I heard the news on TV and immediately recorded a video test myself, read Tat’yana Larina’s letter from Evgene Onegin on camera, as required by the organizers of the selection of candidates for the flight. Submitted a request and waited. Although – no, I also called the producer Eduard Iloyan, who at that moment was filming in the film Mediator.
She asked: Edik, the start of training has been announced, is this serious or some new TV show? He replied that everything was real. Then I said that I sent my sample, I hope to pass the first stage. I really wanted to get on the medical examination, although I was not sure that my health would allow it. Still, two children, some kind, but age ….
In a word, we talked, after which there was silence. I thought that they had safely forgotten about me, not even including me in the extended list … But at the last moment I still got to the qualifying stage.
How many girls participated in it, I don’t know, we were divided into three streams. On March 29, doctors started testing me. Still, the main thing was the physical condition of the candidates, and not the recording of Tat’yana’s letter ….
First they checked in Star City, then in the Volyn hospital. Such a powerful check-up from the English examination, check – approx. TASS – a bunch of MRI, x-rays. They looked at everything – lungs, heart, vision, nasal septa, jaws … Up to gastro- and colonoscopy.
Many failed the tests. There are four contenders left. Alena Mordovina ended up in the backup crew, Sonya Skye fell ill with chickenpox on the eve of the final medical examination. There was also Galya Kairova, a civil aviation pilot. Well, so am I. From this circle and chose.
TASS: It seems that Klim Shipenko had his own favorite – Svetlana Khodchenkova.
Peresild: Just ask him.
TASS: But you’ve probably heard the gossip ….
Peresild: I know that Klim did not want me. More precisely, like this: we did not know each other. We first met on May 12, 2021 at a casting, and while I was undergoing medical selection, no one interfered with this.
Yes, of course, I heard that Shipenko has his own preferences.
TASS: Did it turn you on?
Peresild: I considered it a matter of principle to go through doctors. At this stage, bias was excluded, each of the fifty medical specialists gave his opinion.
And then went professional casting. Certainly, the experience of filming a movie was also taken into account. The same Galya Kairova is beautiful, but she has no acting skills. In this regard, the fight turned out to be unequal. If any of my popular colleagues had reached the final, I’m afraid I wouldn’t be in the project.
I write about it in the book This is space, baby.
TASS: Good name. Your phrase?
Peresild: Oleg Novitskii, who flew with us to the ISS. He said it up there. I remember it well and often used it, however, in a completely different context. Oleg uttered these words when the station suddenly began to roll over and Klim and I a little … how to put it more precisely? … we got scared.
Then Novitskii turned to me: “It’s okay. This is space, baby!”
It’s easy to say when you have two long space flights behind you! And if everything is for the first time, Emergency signals are blaring everywhere from the English emergency situation – approx. TASS, you are hanging in an icy black space far from the Earth and you understand that, in principle, you can never return there again …. How can you not get confused?
Of course, I internally prepared for any outcome, but until you experience it for yourself, you won’t understand it.
However, no one really tried to explain anything to me. Amazing time! From March, when the selection for the project began, until October 5, when the launch of the ship was scheduled, I lived, often not knowing what would happen tomorrow. Especially after a week or a month. A very strange feeling … I could not build my life, plan something. And, I repeat, no one was going to tell me what to expect. For example, I passed the medical examination on April 15, and saw the script only before the acting tests, scheduled for May 12. They didn’t show anything for almost a month. If – theoretically – I did not like the role, it would be too late to retreat, my opinion was not asked anyway.
TASS: But you liked everything, didn’t you?
Peresild: Yes! Indeed, despite our odyssey on the ISS, first of all, this is a story about an ordinary man, and not about an abstract flight to the stars. Do you understand? Each individual person is the main star!
The end result is a fun attraction. In the sense that it was very scary. Because of the complete misunderstanding of what will happen. I’m not used to it. I like to give an account of my actions – what, why and why. I always torment directors on the set, and at rehearsals in the theater.
It is extremely important for me that everyone is told, explained, I understood, felt to the nuances. Such inner preparation.
And here I fell into complete ignorance.
I realized only that no one can guarantee how everything will go. I reassured myself that I was surrounded by really cool men, and they would not give offense. These are cosmonauts, and specialists who prepared for the flight, and, of course, Konstantin Lvovich Ernst, Dmitrii Olegovich Rogozin, Klim Shipenko. They are giants! I felt that I was surrounded by professionals. At the same time, I understood: the final is open in any case, no one can guarantee how it will all end. We even had such a joke: do you know why they started shooting movies after landing? If something went wrong, it would be too costly ….
Before the start, after all, not a scene was filmed! On the one hand, it looks cynical. On the other hand, from an economic point of view, it is quite reasonable. But I, a woman, did not become calmer from such thoughts ….
TASS: Why did you get involved in this story with a flight to the ISS? What did you lack for happiness? Quite a successful career – cinema, theater ….
Peresild: You don’t know me very well! I should have tried. I have to! Especially considering the fact that it was not among the favorites. Although, in fairness, I have long-standing warm relations with Channel One in general and personally with Konstantin Ernst. Once, literally from a photograph, he approved a first-year girl to shoot in the TV series Plot, from which my film career began. I really respect and appreciate Konstantin Lvovich …. How he worried about our flight, obsessed with the project – one cannot help but admire. Everything was real and human ….
Of course, at the selection stage, he could sympathize with me internally, but he did not give me any preferences. Not the case, not those people. We needed someone who would honestly pass the test. This is more than the main role in the film, even if it is a blockbuster. The story is completely unique ….
TASS: Did Shipenko hiss for a long time?
Peresild: No, no, we needed at least a little to get to know each other in order to understand, to feel each other. In my profession, I am known as a hardworking and responsible person. It is comfortable to work with me, I am ready to fight for quality to the last drop of blood. And then I had to prove something again …. Still, I got used to choosing projects, directors, partners. I myself decide where I feel good, with whom I will act or play. Such a privileged status. And here they evaluated me, because of which there was constant anger that they did not believe. But I had no doubt that I could do it.
On May 13, a state commission passed, we were approved, and preparations for the flight began. And the fact that Klim did not want me at first …. How can I blame him for this? We haven’t worked together before. I thought that this was not the place and time to show character. Although, I will not hide, I wanted to. Very! But I overcame it, realizing that there was a big common cause ahead, which could only happen in absolute love and trust, forgiveness of all the insults that had accumulated in me for two and a half months. I am a tough person in this sense. But then she let go of the situation in order to become a single whole, support and support for each other. Otherwise, nothing would have happened.
TASS: When did you meet the ship’s commander Anton Shkaplerov?
On the same day, May 13th. Then back in June they met, until Anton flew to Houston. There he had training at NASA. In July he returned and we started working as a crew.
TASS: Did you catch sidelong glances at yourself?
Peresild: These were mostly … I’m joking.
It helped that Klim Alekseevich was nearby, he did a good job, did everything right, did not react to anything extraneous, was engaged in preparing for filming, storyboarding. Of course, inside I sometimes fumed, believing that we deserved a warmer welcome.
Although, for example, the doctor Vadim Shevchenko did not hide his sympathy. And the crew instructor Igor Karyukin became a second father for Klim and me. I remember everyone! Valerii Grigoryevich Korzun, the great cosmonaut who survived the fire on Mir, teased me, but at the same time I felt that he was standing behind us like a wall. This is immediately visible.
But there were also conflicts. All sorts of people along the way ….
TASS: And you didn’t want to spit? Send everything and everyone away?
Peresild: You know, I got up early in the morning and always prayed …. True, true! I said to myself: Yulia, you have a higher goal, you go to it, forget about the rest, be open to people, love them the way they were born …. The psychotherapy session continued in the car while driving for two and a half hours to the TsPK (Cosmonaut Training Center/ЦПК, Центра подготовки космонавтов).
In the evening, on the way back from Zvyozdnii, Konstantin Lvovich acted as my personal healer of the soul. I called him and sobbed into the phone: I can’t take it anymore, I’m leaving! This happened more than once or twice.
Ernst said in response: be patient, be patient, be patient ….
Parents also tried to calm down. Even my children.
TASS: Did your family immediately support you?
Peresild: No one seemed to believe that I would be taken away. At first, my mother was calm, listening to my stories about how the tests become more difficult: a centrifuge, a vestibular chair, a pressure chamber, an orthotable ….
TASS: What’s this?
Peresild: They turn you upside down and leave you in that position for forty-five minutes. They check the condition of the vessels, the entire circulatory system ….
In a word, gradually my mother became sad. Until mid-April, I passed pre-flight tests, came home joyful, inspired, and my mother’s mood deteriorated …. She had a hard time with my flight, immediately after I returned to Earth, she was covered with a serious oncological disease.
As far as I understand, these are the consequences of a huge excitement because of me ….
TASS: Have you done it?
Peresild: I hope all be fine. Fortunately, we spotted the problem at an early stage and took action. But in any case, the price was very high. From the outside, it seems as if Channel One and Roskosmos filmed a grandiose show, but in fact, the people who were inside the project put life into this story. And there is no exaggeration in my words ….
About the testament, traditions, writing on the wheel, popularizers, tears and tin cans
TASS: Did you realize that you can leave children without a mother?
Peresild: Yes, sure.
TASS: For what? How did you answer this question? What motivated you – pride, ambition?
Peresild: Maybe it will sound pathetic, someone will not believe me, but I put a very specific meaning into the concept of Motherland. I love my country very much, and our flight, the risks we took, proves that these are not just beautiful words for me. I think it is important to say this today, when Russia is going through such a difficult time.
A lot of things happened after we started filming the space movie. Including very bad, terrible. Now it seems that the project conceived in a different, peaceful life has somehow been erased, faded into the background or fifth plan.
This was worth the risk.
TASS: Was it important for Tom Cruise and all of Hollywood to rub his nose in it?
Peresild: Cruz is a brilliant artist, I sincerely regret that our flight unwittingly killed his dream. But for me it is much more important that we were the pioneers. This position cannot be taken away from us. I think it’s a very tempting motive. At least he turned me on.
TASS: But the daughters probably asked: Mom, where are you going?
Peresild: The question has been asked many times.
TASS: And you told Anya and Masha about love for the Motherland?
Peresild: And about this too. Well, how?
I wrote them psychologically very difficult letters for me, where I planned how everything would be if something unpleasant happened in flight. Somehow I tried to figure it all out.
TASS: In fact, made a will?
Peresild: Exactly so, but, you see, I am a fatalist by nature, I believe in fate. What should happen will happen anyway, and what should not happen will never happen. I sincerely hope that everything will end well ….
I remember coming to Klim and saying: “Did you write a will?” He replied: “Yulia, I beg you, do not touch this topic.” But I did not back down: “Listen, we must do it. We must foresee everything.”
I know that he also wrote later.
TASS: Appointed guardians, certified the paper at the notary?
Peresild: I repeat once again: well, how? It’s not jokes. You can’t be so frivolous. We made a decision, agreed to risk our lives, but our children had to be protected.
At the same time, I am not superstitious: I calmly take out the garbage in the evening, do not cross to the other side of the street, if a cat crosses the road, I do not sit on a fallen scenario ….
I always thought that theater and cinema people are the most confused on this topic, but it turned out that cosmonauts are a real storehouse of superstitions. Did not expect. The number of traditions beyond the bounds! And most importantly, everything had to be done. In a strictly mandatory manner. You can’t retreat or break. Otherwise shoot!
TASS: For example?
Peresild: You must have heard about the fact that before the flight you must certainly pee on the wheel of the bus carrying to the launch pad.
TASS: By the way, how did you do it?
Peresild: Prepared in advance. I peed, excuse me, in a jar, and twenty minutes before entering the rocket I sprinkled the wheel.
TASS: What other rituals?
“Sit on Korolyov’s bench near his house …. The commander should be the last to enter the ship …. However, this is also due to technological necessity: he sits in the central chair, and if he enters first, it will be impossible to squeeze through either to the right or to the left.
Permission must be obtained before the launch. It was ordered to me by Konstantin Ernst and Sergei Romanov, First Deputy General Designer of RKK Energiya. But Sergei Yuriievich intelligently succumbed from behind, and Konstantin Lvovich moved in such a way that he thought the coccyx would break. Really applied. From the heart! Then, when we had already arrived, she told him: “Do you know why we didn’t dock in automatic mode? After your pendel, there were no options left – only manually ….”
TASS: Were you frightened, by the way, when the docking did not work out the first time?
Peresild: Very. I didn’t panic though, no. I had a strange willingness to accept and accept everything. But I’m an actress, I have a rich imagination … I thought: to die at launch is some kind of stupid garbage. They didn’t even shoot anything, they just swung at something serious.
Because this docking … I looked at Klim at that moment: two idiots were sitting – an actress and a director, both thirty-seven years old, each had some achievements behind their backs, something was shining ahead, but instead – the prospect was mediocre all, sorry, f*ck off.
I was not so afraid for my life. I knew that the schemes for rescuing the crew were worked out clearly. The worst scenario is a ballistic descent with a landing somewhere in the forests of the Amazon. The worst thing is if we came back with nothing. So much preparation, effort, money spent, flew to the ISS and back?
On October 17, on the way from the station, I was no longer so worried. I knew that we filmed everything planned, there are truly unique shots, the material will be thrown to the Earth … I was calm.
TASS: And what about the allegedly lost flash drives? Where did it come from?
Peresild: Complete nonsense! Nobody would allow such a thing. A communication channel was organized in advance, after each shift the footage was distilled through it, as is done on any film set. Of course, we were reinsured. How else? There were forty minutes of material.
I think the rumor was started by the so-called “experts” in space. Every day I like this profession more and more: they don’t answer for anything, but they happily comment on everything! It would be better if fake popularizers talked about real heroes of space, and did not give out “revealing” interviews on various YouTube channels.
One threw in a “sensation.” it turns out that I spent all the water on the ISS, including drinking water, because I often washed my hair! Firstly, at the station, water is processed from urine and condensate of atmospheric moisture, which means that as long as vital activity takes place on board, drought is excluded. Secondly, I received the same two hundred milliliters of water as everyone else. If you want – my head, if you want – other parts of the body.
Therefore, these accusations are ridiculous, like the story with flash drives. But it is beautifully painted: a film star flew in from the Earth, left the cosmonauts without water, such rubbish ….
I understand why some people believe this. Someone is pleased to think that artists and other creative people are morons from birth. It is impossible to argue with such an approach. It’s comforting that not everyone thinks so ….
TASS: Why were you crying in orbit?
Peresild: There were different reasons. When we left, it was sad to say goodbye. It seems that we spent less than two weeks at the station, but managed to get used to it, as if in our own home. As a child, I used to run away from my grandparents. It was a wonderful summer in the village, and then you suddenly realize that the word “never” appears, and sadness comes from it.
I cried, realizing that this would not happen again in my life – there would be neither the ISS nor space ….
TASS: Maybe still fly for a sequel.
Peresild: Klim constantly says that it is necessary to repeat. And we are experienced ….
Sounds too fabulous to believe. Firstly, the event is expensive, and secondly, there is a queue of professional cosmonauts and commercial tourists ….
Roskosmos has a clear schedule of launches, we fit into it without moving anything even for a day. Why was there such an insanely forced preparation? The launch of Soyuz MS-19 was scheduled for October 5, 2021. Gotta fly!
TASS: Did you feel confident on the day of the launch?
Peresild: Yes, I was calm, I knew what I was responsible for, I had no doubt: I could handle it. Klim is similar. On May 13, we joined hands and never even argued, we were so attentive and careful to each other. He is my space brother.
Some distrust at first was felt on the part of Oleg Novitskii and Petr Dubrov, the crew members who met us on the ISS. It is clear that Klim and I are not professional cosmonauts, it took some time until they realized that we were good guys.
TASS: But, for example, one can understand Pyotr Dubrov, who spent another six months in space until the next expedition arrived with a replacement.
He didn’t plan to act in films either. Like Oleg Novitskii. It’s stress. Professional cosmonauts, military – well, what kind of shooting? Also listen to the director, who behaves like a commander. Why do they need it? Plus – Peresild. More precisely, minus. Grandma at the station! Where does it fit?
TASS: Bad omen?
Peresild: It is clear that it is impossible to argue with Sergei Pavlovich Korolyov, but I think space was created for women too. For those who know how to keep calm and pull themselves together. After all, we endure weightlessness better than most men ….
In NASA, women fly as crew commanders and do a great job, and we still have few cosmonauts, I’m only the fifth in sixty years. I didn’t expect any concessions from my colleagues, but before returning to Earth, I told Dubrov: “Petya, you will remember me here every day, and when you arrive and continue shooting the picture, I’ll arrange something on the site! Bend cans with your fingers! I’ll show you!”
TASS: What kind of cans? Tell me.
Peresild: Garbage must be packed tightly, so Peter told me: “Carefully squeeze empty cans. Fold four times so that they take up less space. Come on, don’t be lazy!” And I gave. I mean pressed. With all my might! Women’s hands, by the way. It’s physically painful, trust me. But I exercised my fingers, now I have, as they say, a strong handshake ….
TASS: And no one offered to help?
Peresild: Oleg Novitskii then said, they say, why do you bend with your hands? Take pliers. By that time, ten days had already passed, we were going to Earth. So I answered: “No, I’ll be there to the end. By myself. With my hands ….”
To get an idea of what it’s like, in the evening when you come home after the interview, open a sprat in a tomato, eat the contents, and then bend the jar four times. That’s it, that’s it!
If you like it, you can try again. And do it every day. I guarantee results!
TASS: Did you keep your promise? Did you answer Dubrov on the set?
Of course I was joking. I love these people – Petya, Oleg, Anton Shkaplerov. Klim, of course.
We filmed in the suburbs, in pavilions, in different places. Filming continued for 12-16 hours. After a couple of days in such a rhythm, both Dubrov and Novitskii realized that acting work, of course, is different from what cosmonauts do, but it is also very difficult. We are definitely not idlers, not useless and senseless people who do not know how to work.
TASS: Did the cosmonauts cope with their roles?
Peresild: I think so. Definitely yes. Peter and Oleg were cherished and cherished on the site, treated like heroes, did not hide their admiration … Was it easy for them? Don’t think. But, listen, they are desperately brave people! This is inherent in their profession. So they coped with the shooting. It was hard and nervous for them to learn the texts, I suspect they were worried, even shy, although they did not show it.
TASS: Are you talking now?
Peresild: We’re trying. This is probably the most honest answer. We constantly stay in touch, we correspond, we have a general chat, but we rarely meet. Everyone has their own worries, troubles, although the desire to see each other more often has not gone away. The guys came to my theater, I hope they will visit again. I really want to keep in touch with them. And with Sergei Romanov from RKK Energiya. I love him and do not even hide it ….
Together with Klim, I presented Sergei Yuriievich with a twelve-bolt helmet.
TASS: What it is?
Peresild: Romanov collects old diving helmets. We have fulfilled the promise given before the flight.
TASS: Did they leave you a spacesuit as a keepsake? After all, it is individual, as far as I understand, it was made specifically for you.
Peresild: Yes, it is, but …. To be honest, I don’t know where my spacesuit is. They gave me gloves. My space gloves.
TASS: But did you take anything from the ISS?
Peresild: I returned to Earth the T-shirt in which I flew, the names of my daughters are written on it – Anna, Maria.
Everyone was allowed to take a kilogram of personal belongings on the flight. I brought with me some simple jewelry – chains, earrings. Well, your photos. Thirty pieces. There is a post office on the ISS where you can make special cancellation. Gave as gifts to loved ones. I left myself a pectoral cross.
TASS: Was there a burnout after the flight?
Peresild: What else! Harsh. Everything fell into place. I found out about my mother’s diagnosis, I myself was in a torn state … I won’t say that there were health problems, but certain difficulties appeared. A lot of negativity converged in one point. Such, you know, flash. I could not recover my breath after it, figuratively speaking ….
TASS: Although they talk about you as a person with a stable psyche.
Peresild: Well, yes, you can’t kill with a shovel …. Let them continue to think so.
Indeed, I am a positive, cheerful person, but at that moment it hit me specifically ….
TASS: How long did it last?
Peresild: Until my mother began to come out of the disease. For a long time ….
2022 has been a tough year. In all senses. As is the case for many. So I don’t want to complain ….
About Galchonok, fear of death, pluses and minuses, envy, love, difficulties and freedom
TASS: Why did you ask about burnout? Flight into space, whatever one may say, is the pinnacle. Both literally and figuratively. And then what? Downward movement?
Peresild: I haven’t lost my motivation. It helps a lot, even saves my Galchonok Foundation. Pure truth! You will never reach the top here. There are an awful lot of children in need of help, we now have over 1,200 people with cerebral palsy and other organic lesions of the central nervous system under our patronage. But we are not only solving the specific problems of these patients, we are trying to create an algorithm for providing assistance.
The Foundation pulls me out of any psychological hole. And the flight into space was dedicated to this. The toy – an indicator of weightlessness, which I took with her, was, of course, a jackdaw.
The philosophy of the fund has developed. This proved to be the most difficult in the past ten years: not the number of children in care, but the quality of care provided to them. A difficult task that was successfully completed. But as you know, there is no limit to perfection.
Why don’t we stop? For our children, constant overcoming is a way of life. With cerebral palsy, one cannot be ill and recover, this disease is forever. Listen, think about the word. But we must shake off the despair and continue to fight. Actually, this is what we do together with children and their parents. I know what words to say. It will be difficult, but we will go ahead anyway.
TASS: How much money did you raise last year?
Peresild: More than a hundred million rubles. In 2021 there were one hundred and twenty one million.
TASS: So the amount hasn’t dropped too much?
Peresild: No, but every ruble is now a thousand times more difficult ….
We have established excellent contact with the government of Moscow, without its help, a wonderful, strong, but still the women’s team of the fund would not have mastered the tasks set. The city hears us. The first rehabilitation center at the place of residence is already operating. We chose a difficult area – the highway of Enthusiasts. We want similar centers to open in each of the metropolitan districts. Parents will be able to bring their children there on their own, and after the end of the treatment procedures, take them home. It is important that children do not end up locked in the wards, but live with their relatives in the family. This gives amazing results. One of the sedentary patients got up, took the first steps, another spoke, the third began to eat by himself ….
For me, every success, even local, of our ward is already a holiday.
TASS: Do you support “Galchonka” with the ruble?
Peresild: No, I don’t transfer money to our fund, I help find sponsors who donate to us.
At the same time, I have been sending thirty percent of my fees to various shelters for a long time – for children, for the elderly, for animals ….
TASS: Always?
Peresild: Practically.
You know, I’ve been in charity for many years, but I never learned to refuse requests. This is not very correct. Some people abuse kindness and responsiveness. When I see this, I start scolding myself: “Yulia, what are you doing? Stop, you idiot!” Usually I am not enough for a long time, again I start helping those who applied directly ….
I hope that after such a revelation, my direct in social networks will not be flooded with letters ….
But not everything is measured in money. From time to time I call the hospital of some regional center and say: “Hello, I’m Yulia Peresild, Honored Artist of Russia, cosmonaut. Such and such a child has a serious problem. Help him.”
More often they go forward. Sometimes they send them far, far away, but at least not immediately … I’m already a little used to this. When I can help, I am truly happy. I think: I chose a cool profession for myself. Bliss!
TASS: You said earlier that for you Challenge is an attempt to commit an act.
Peresild: Yes, that is right.
TASS: Credit for one hundred percent?
Peresild: Time will tell. And people will decide. I’m not supposed to talk about it.
TASS: What about self-awareness?
Peresild: In everyday life, one would hardly think about such matters. Usually, after all, there is no time for philosophical reflections on abstract topics. You are constantly in a hurry to run somewhere. It turned out that thoughts about death, internal dialogues with it are deeply interesting to me. At first it was scary even to approach, and then I began to delve into herself, to understand …. A new, unexpected value of life appeared, I suddenly looked at the world around with different eyes. I realized how lucky I was to have this day. And the next one. But there could be nothing ….
Yes, the easiest way to fall into reflection or depression. People tend to be sad about and without, we often see the minuses, almost not noticing the pluses. Good things seem to happen on their own, while bad things can and should be discussed. In fact, you need to appreciate every bright minute. It sounds trite, but try to put this common truth into practice. Enjoy meeting with friends, spending an evening with your family, walking through the forest, even a theater rehearsal. In a word, everything that makes up life. And I will be different.
TASS: Did you manage to learn this art?
Peresild: Trying. A work in process.
It is interesting to analyze in hindsight how my perception has changed. So we returned to Earth, I’m lying in the descent vehicle and thinking: Christmas trees, sticks, have they really sat down, alive and well, arms and legs intact? It worked! But another scenario could have happened.
Next thought: class, then I will see my theater. I haven’t played for four months, and now I’ll be on stage soon. How good! It’s like rediscovering the world. Here is my viewer. I am back in my favorite profession. Happiness! And so, layer by layer. Kind of a reboot.
And on this path, I have much more gains than losses. Even those who at first accepted us with hostility, fell in love and forgave. Absolutely! One can only laugh at past misunderstandings and somehow mock them. I love the TsPK community. Unfortunately, there is not enough time to get to Star City to hug everyone.
TASS: Did you feel envy from your colleagues in the workshop?
Peresild: I don’t want to catch someone else’s negative energy. The feeling is so vile that it’s disgusting to even touch.
If I feel that some kind of negativity is flying in my direction, I immediately tell myself: quickly get out of here. No, not mine! Envy is very destructive. So let it devour those who sin with it. I try not to have such characters in my environment.
If we talk about losses, they are mainly associated with those who were forced to leave the country over the past year. It really hurts. Very ….
TASS: Did your departure affect your attitude towards them?
Peresild: No. There are too many things that connect us …. Yes, now we are separated, we have diverged in some opinions and views, but it does not follow from this that I will hate or curse someone out loud. These are people close to me, and I will not betray them. We have come a long way together, they have shaped me as an actress.
I’m not going to cut out the ones I love from my life.
TASS: What was it like for you to be introduced instead of Khamatova in the play Shukshin’s Stories?
Peresild: Once I already replaced Chulpan when she was pregnant. So I knew the part. But it’s still hard psychologically. It even hurts. However, everyone made their own decision, made a choice.
TASS: Surely, and with Mironov Evgenii Mironov, artistic director of the Theater of Nations – TASS note discussed the situation? In the Theater of Nations, if I’m not mistaken, you’ve been playing since 2006?
Peresild: Yes, I love this house, I want to continue creating in it. So that, as before, a spectator comes who hears and listens to us, the actors. This is where the heart is. And mine, and Zhenya, and other people. It’s not about the building or the walls ….
I have to say a few words about Nikita Grinshpun, a talented director and my classmate at RATI. With his “Swedish match.” where I made my debut in 2007, in fact, the Theater of Nations began. Nikita ran the Fifth Theater in Omsk, he was accused of embezzlement and in February 2023 he was sentenced to five and a half years in a strict regime colony. The day the verdict was announced, I wept bitterly, I could not stop. Lawyers filed an appeal, but so far nothing has changed.
My rays of support to Nikita, as they say now ….
TASS: You are still not a member of any theatrical troupe, are you?
Peresild: I have never been, although, for example, Zhenya Mironov played in a dozen performances.
TASS: Why are you isolated?
Peresild: I don’t want to love according to the work book. I don’t need a seal to feel.
TASS: Does she interfere?
Peresild: Doesn’t affect anything. Then why? I am for love and freedom. Freedom of choice. Another question is that this implies responsibility. Everyone will have to answer for everything at some point. Sometimes it’s hard and frustrating.
TASS: By the way, about the difficulties. Is it more difficult for you in training or in combat?
Peresild: I don’t want to sound like a pessimist, but I think it’s not easy everywhere. Any business, if you do it honestly, putting your soul into it, cannot be easy. You worry, you worry, you want it to work out. Everything never depends only on you, there are also external factors. So it’s hard everywhere.
True, the pleasure from a positive result covers any costs. I hate it when colleagues start complaining about grueling filming or rehearsals. I can’t stand that kind of talk. Why? It’s part of the profession. You can’t immediately jump onto the red carpet, first sweat, work hard. Yes, in preparation for the Challenge it was not easy, but now I’m ready to remember it only with humor. What caused pain is in the past, and today I am happy.
TASS: Who do you want to play now?
Peresild: I’ll tell you if you promise not to laugh.”
I have long dreamed of acting in a children’s fairy tale, in some good movie. And then I got an offer. I was given the role … Baba Yaga.
TASS: Worthy! What movie?
Peresild: The working title is Finist. The First Bogatyr. Maybe it still change.
When they called, I thought: finally. Frankly, it’s time to wait with helicopters, planes, rockets. There was a lot of this in my profession, I need a pause and something more calm. I want joy.
Another new project is Empresses by Andryusha Kravchuk. This is a full meter, where I have to play Elizaveta Petrovna.
In general, I decided: I need to shoot less. And she swore off signing up for shooting, as they say, out of friendship. I’m on friendly terms with many filmmakers. If you are not ready to pay a fee, send money to the Galchonok fund. I agree to this, but so that it’s completely free, no. Only if for charity.
TASS: Last question. Which ones are not taken as cosmonauts, Yulia?
Peresild: Well, you asked! There is a large layer, do not answer until the morning ….
They say a coward doesn’t play hockey. They won’t even fly into space. You need to be brave, ready for a lot. This is a global test of human nature.
But here’s what I just thought about …. Real cosmonauts should probably talk about this topic. And I have a different profession. And in orbit, we filmed not so much an adventure blockbuster as a story about a fragile woman on whom the life of a strong man in trouble depends. And in order to achieve this goal, even the cosmos is ready to submit. For one person to help another.
Cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov: it’s easy to play yourself
On April 12, the Moscow premiere will take place, and on the 20th, the all-Russian screening of the feature film Challenge will start, the shooting of which took place, among other things, on board the International Space Station (ISS). This is a joint project of Channel One and the state corporation Roskosmos. On October 5, 2021, director Klim Shipenko and actress Yulia Peresild, who had previously undergone accelerated training in Star City, were the first in the world among filmmakers to go to the ISS.
TASS: On the eve of the premiere, the head of the TASS special project “First Persons” Andrei Vandenko spoke with the commander of the Soyuz MS-19 spacecraft Anton Shkaplerov and Honored Artist of Russia Yulia Peresild. Anton talked about what it’s like to fly into orbit with non-professionals and whether cinema can restore the prestige of the cosmonaut profession.
About the course of a young fighter, taboo list, paramedic minimum, cameos and doubles in orbit
TASS: Admit it, Anton Nikolaevich, did you have to hit Yulia and Klim on the hands, so that they would not press any buttons in the spacecraft without permission, did not open the windows on the ISS, did not stick out through the windows?
Shkaplerov: Peresild and Shipenko underwent the necessary training at the TsPK (Cosmonaut Training Center), albeit in an accelerated mode. They had many hours of training, classes, where they studied, among other things, official documentation.
They learned how to handle spacesuits even in an emergency situation – in case of depressurization, toxicity, fire or smoke in the ship …. They mastered what is necessary for an emergency landing in an unplanned place, studied under the marine survival program, received basic information about life and work at the station: how to use the toilet in weightless conditions, cook your own food …. And so on. True, only the Russian segment of the ISS, where the equipment manufactured and operated by Roskosmos, has been studied in detail. Therefore, the guys were allowed into the compartments of partners from NASA, accompanied by an American representative.
TASS: So, there was something like a course for a young fighter: takeoff and landing? Like the pilots of the Great Patriotic War.
Four hundred hours at the TsPK. Not so little. We give similar knowledge to all space tourists, but Klim and Yulia had to master science in a short time. Their pre-flight training was cut to four and a half months, but usually tourists are trained for at least six, or even nine.
By the way, two Japanese billionaires flew into orbit next. I met them on the ISS. They have already been prepared according to a shortened program, run-in at Yulia and Klima. Many wealthy people are willing to pay big money for the opportunity to go to space, but refuse, knowing that they will have to abandon the business for almost a year.
Now, I think, wishing to increase. The experience of the last two crews gave an understanding of how to shorten the pre-flight preparation time.
TASS: Does a list of taboos for newly minted cosmonauts exist? What can’t be done?
Shkaplerov: The main thing is to remember what you can. And everything else – no-no.
But, I repeat, Yulia and Klim did not fly as ordinary passengers or tourists, but performed certain duties.
TASS: Which?
Shkaplerov: For the first time I was in a crew without a flight engineer, and a safety net was necessary. During takeoff next to the guys were critical levers, which I physically did not reach. In the event of an emergency situation, when you have to act very quickly, I would not be able to quickly press the necessary keys, I would not have time to unfasten myself from the chair. Taking into account this circumstance, the Soyuz MS-19 ship was finalized, such a large remote control was made, having put buttons on it that might be needed. Yulia was in charge. The remote was next to her in a special pocket. She kept it on the launch into orbit and on the descent, so that on command it would be immediately handed over to me. Klim was responsible for important pressure equalization valves.
In 1971, the country lost the Soyuz-11 crew Georgii Dobrovolskii, Vladislav Volkov and Viktor Patsaev – TASS note due to the abnormal opening of one of these valves. During the descent, depressurization occurred, the cosmonauts died. Would have been in spacesuits, survived. But they flew in sports suits, in spacesuits they did not fit into the descent vehicle. The USSR wanted to be the first in everything. First, a crew of two people was launched into orbit, then of three ….
Victory in that race sometimes cost us human lives.
After the tragedy with the Soyuz-11, the launches of manned spacecraft were stopped for more than two years, since then our cosmonauts have been flying only in spacesuits with a life support system.
In a word, we trained with Yulia and Klim to stay on the Russian segment of the ISS and the entire flight from launch to landing. After all, the guys had to return with Oleg Novitskii, who was in orbit while we were studying.
TASS: It seems that you are trying to hold back a smile when you start talking about your wards from Channel One.
Shkaplerov: I remember the show ….
TASS: Is it still a show?
Shkaplerov: Well, yes. You must have seen how many journalists and honored guests came to our start at Baikonur? The media spoke in detail about each of the crew members, trumpeted the flight to the whole world …. Millions of people saw the launch live, there has never been such close attention to the event.
TASS: In your memory or in general?
Shkaplerov: I say never. It is clear that the flight of Yuri Gagarin and subsequent launches were covered very widely, had a resonance throughout the planet. But this happened already in hindsight, no one conducted online broadcasts from Baikonur, the launch of new cosmonauts in Soviet times was reported only after a successful launch or even landing.
Then there was perestroika, when everyone was not up to space, it, in fact, fell out of sight. With the advent of the Internet, information became more accessible, but the former interest never returned.
Actually, the film project, as I understand it, was started in order for people to be inspired again by stories about the conquest of the universe.
TASS: And when did you find out that you were flying with two filmmakers?
Shkaplerov: In the spring of 2021, a delegation from Channel One headed by Konstantin Lvovich Ernst arrived in Star City. Soon there was talk that the TV people were going to shoot the film in space. But I did not expect that the shooting will fall on my flight. I did not pass auditions and screen tests.
TASS: You started training with Peresild and Shipenko in June. If it seemed to you that one of this couple was not pulling the preparation, could the management make adjustments?
Shkaplerov: No one was allowed to express their own opinion. All that was happening was closely monitored by Roskosmos specialists, the authors of the project, and doctors. Just in case, doubles were prepared.
The TsPK was given the task of selecting candidates, preparing them for the flight, so that they would fulfill their goals as successfully and safely as possible. This is what we were doing.
TASS: It is clear that orders are not discussed, but it is known that the project caused an ambiguous reaction from your colleagues.
Shkaplerov: Yes, some people in our department did not hide their skepticism. Others, on the contrary, said that they did everything right.
TASS: And you?
Shkaplerov: I understood that the president of the country personally gave the go-ahead for shooting the film, the idea came from the leadership of Roskosmos and Channel One ….
Thanks to the interest shown to us by the TV people, a series of documentaries was released, in which the viewer was shown how the crew was trained from the moment the candidates were selected, told about Roskosmos and the enterprises included in it. Naturally, many have heard that there is such a corporation, but does everyone understand what exactly we are doing in space, what is the scientific load?
As I already said, thanks to the special conditions that we had to fit into when implementing this project, we were able to significantly shorten the pre-flight preparation stage. An important milestone for the future.
TASS: The plot of the film is built around a surgical operation that has to be carried out on the ISS. You also probably own a paramedic’s minimum, don’t you?
Shkaplerov: Undoubtedly. Both at the TsPK and at NASA they conduct mandatory medical training before the flight. There is a lot of special medical equipment on the ISS, including ultrasound machines and defibrillators to start the heart. We are taught how to use this technique. But the main thing is to be able to provide first aid, bring a person to a stable state if he suddenly becomes ill.
TASS: Have there been any precedents?
Shkaplerov: Dangerous, really life-threatening, thank God, no. But we are always ready for surprises. The station has a special place for emergency care, a mini-operating room is on constant duty, and a large supply of all kinds of medicines is at hand. Telemedicine, which is now widely practiced on Earth, is, in fact, our space reserve. It all started back in the 1960s with biotelemetry. Even then, physiological parameters, such as the ECG of cosmonauts, were recorded and transmitted to Earth.
Today, you will not surprise anyone with the possibility of an online consultation with a doctor. In an emergency situation, a surgeon located, say, in Moscow, helps colleagues from Sakhalin to successfully cope with a complex operation.
TASS: So, the appendicitis was not removed in orbit, but at least the teeth were pulled?
Shkaplerov: Before the start, everyone undergoes high-quality sanitation. Doctors can also put implants so that there are no problems on the ISS. But the crowns happened to pop out in flight. A couple of times I planted them back to my colleagues using special glue. If anything, I can carry out the removal, there is nothing complicated there.
TASS: And in the film, by the way, who was put under the knife?
Shkaplerov: According to the scenario, Oleg Novitskii was operated on.
TASS: Everything looked convincing, knowledgeable people will not find fault?
Shkaplerov: The honored doctor of Russia, a specialist in such operations, was invited as a consultant. He also participated in the work on the script, and during the filming he controlled Yulia’s actions so that the surgical manipulations looked authentic, like in life.
TASS: Did Novitskii know that he would have to become a “patient”?
Shkaplerov: Well, of course. Before the start, I even managed to read the first version of the script, still raw, indeterminate. But the space film process turned out to be very serious and large-scale. In addition, Oleg’s shooting overlapped with preparations for returning to Earth. In fact, he alone prepared the ship for launch, and this is hard, responsible work. Tired …. After all, the flight engineer usually does half of the work.
TASS: All for the same reason: tourists are not ordered to press the buttons?
Shkaplerov: Well, yes. They carried out their tasks, but only on command. They couldn’t touch or do anything.
TASS: On a five-point system, how would you rate the actions of Yulia and Klim?
Shkaplerov: To be honest, this struck me: they worked out in advance every day, hour and literally a minute of filming. Everyone rehearsed on Earth to make things as easy as possible in space. Although it is clear that the orbit was not without additional difficulties.
TASS: What?
Shkaplerov: The light on the ISS is constantly changing – only forty-five minutes pass from dawn to dusk. The station makes a revolution around the Earth in an hour and a half, which means that every day we live in orbit sixteen sunsets and sunrises.
Klim, in extraordinary conditions, worked for two, at the same time he was a director and cameraman. He was lucky that he studied at the faculty of film production and filmed his thesis as a cameraman. What’s up for two! After all, he had to manage with light, and with sound, and with the organization of the rest of the film process. A space station is not an earthly film set with a hundred assistants and administrators bustling about! On the ISS, by the way, not only the lighting, but also the noise is special. Space doesn’t sound like it does on Earth. But everything that was filmed for the picture is authentic in sound. I did not duplicate any of my phrases on Earth. Klim said that everything suited him.
TASS: And do you have a lot of replicas?
Shkaplerov: Enough. There are even monologues.
TASS: It turns out that we will see a space cameo: you play yourself, right?
Shkaplerov: At first, in the script, I was listed as an unnamed cosmonaut, then a surname appeared – Shkaplerov. Since Yulia had to contact me somehow, and the plot grew in details, in the end I became who I am: cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov, played by cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov.
TASS: Were there duplicates?
Shkaplerov: Oh yeah! At least ten each time. Sometimes it even reached eighteen.
TASS: Is everything on camera or did you rehearse first?
Shkaplerov: In space, they filmed non-stop, non-stop. That’s how they do it. Now is not the time when the film limit was set. The image is written on the “number.”
About space cinema, commercial tourism, “seasickness” and tubes of champagne
TASS: Do you watch feature films about space? Do you have your rating?
Shkaplerov: Of the American number one – Apollo 13. Filmed very close to reality.
TASS: Is this where the Russians fly in earflaps?
Shkaplerov: No, our cosmonaut was depicted in a hat in Armageddon – a light, humorous movie, I perceive it only as a comedy. Although NASA allowed filmmakers to work in a real space center and even let the film crew into the hangar of the Endeavor shuttle. I am familiar with these sites, I have been there ….
But the Apollo 13 film is based on real events, when the American crew almost died during the lunar program. I did not find a single technical blunder in the film.
We also have good pictures – Time of the First, Salyut-7, but in each of them, alas, unfortunate miscalculations were made. As a cosmonaut and an engineer, I look and think: couldn’t they do it normally, consult with specialists? The creators usually explain that the film is a feature film, not only professionals watch it, the plot is based on real facts, but cannot remain without a share of embellishment. So they decide to catch up with fear, add drama, in order, therefore, to warm up the interest of the audience.
TASS: The heroes of Salyut-7 have real prototypes – cosmonauts Vladimir Dzhanibekov and Viktor Savinykh, but in the film by Klim Shipenko they are given other names.
Shkaplerov: And the personal life of the characters in the film also turned out to be different. Therefore, at the preview, colleagues were somewhat indignant. Then they were persuaded, apparently by appealing to the lofty goals for which fiction is used in cinema. And Vladimir and Victor gave the go-ahead.
TASS: From a professional point of view, are there many mistakes?
Shkaplerov: There are a few. For example, there was no fire at the station, the burned-out Soyuz would not have flown anywhere.
TASS: And how is the state of weightlessness conveyed?
Shkaplerov: More or less.
And in Challenge there will be truly unique shots. For one of Yulia’s flights around the ISS, we chose the longest route on the Russian segment. It can be seen that she does not move in any one room, but overcomes half the station. You can’t shoot that on Earth. Yulia was flying, Klim was shooting, and I was dragging him so that he wouldn’t hit. No one has an eye in the back of their head.
TASS: Globally, was the game worth the candle? All this fuss with the flight of artists.
Shkaplerov: I asked Klim directly. He replied that the budget would not have pulled such a number of special effects in the conditions of gravity. The film would cost a lot more. I think that Shipenko knows the price of cunning cinematic notions and tricks, there is no doubt.
TASS: Is it true that because of the space-cinematic odyssey, Petr Dubrov spent an extra six months in orbit? Allegedly, he did not have enough space in the lander to return to Earth.
Shkaplerov: No, Petya immediately flew for a year. If not for Yulia and Klim, Japanese tourists would have gone into orbit.
TASS: So, the talk that the film project violated the space flight program is the machinations of spiteful critics?
Shkaplerov: Initially, there was an option with a different crew, completely professional, then we decided to send tourists for money, and then the idea arose with the filming of a feature film. At that moment, globally, it didn’t matter who exactly would fly – the Japanese billionaires or our artists.
By the way, we have had similar cases with substitutions before. I remember that in 2015, instead of British singer Sarah Brightman, who refused to fly, Kazakhstani cosmonaut Aidyn Aimbetov was launched. The issue was preliminarily agreed upon at a meeting of the leaders of the two countries. The then President of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, turned to Vladimir Vladimirovich, said that there was a trained specialist, waiting for his finest hour. Putin was informed that a vacancy had appeared, and in the name of strengthening friendly relations between Russia and Kazakhstan, Aidyn flew into space for a week.
TASS: All these stories do not discredit space as a science? One flew for the sake of friendship, the other for the cinema, the third stupidly for money ….
Shkaplerov: Space tourism is an income item, all countries are fighting for it. In 1986, teacher Christa McAuliffe died while launching the Challenger, and the Americans banned non-professionals from going into space. Therefore, since the beginning of the 90s, only our Soyuz have been carrying those who wish, and the Space Shuttle has not dealt with civilians for almost eight years.
Commercial astronauts were specialists trained for flight, paid for by their countries. As part of international crews, I flew with an American, a Japanese and an Italian.
The tour on the Space Shuttle cost more than on the Soyuz, as far as I know. One hundred million dollars against our sixty.
TASS: Are tourists weeded out for health reasons? Ready to pay, but can’t handle the load?
Shkaplerov: Certainly. The physically weak, with all their desire, will not fly into space. After all, even with successfully completed training and medical examinations, one cannot fully insure against possible surprises.
TASS: Were there any surprises with Klim and Yulia in orbit?
Shkaplerov: They are great! I have the right to judge, because I made four long flights to the ISS, I saw different people who started training from scratch. Peresild and Shipenko could well change their occupation and become professional cosmonauts if they wished.
The first condition in our business is a strong vestibular apparatus. As a rule, its trouble-free operation is adjusted by training. Although the Americans do not bother with special exercises, they clog the body’s reaction with motion sickness pills like those sold in pharmacies to travelers who are afraid of “seasickness.” As a result, a person does not feel sick, he is more or less adequate, but there is an unpleasant side effect – he begins to fall asleep.
TASS: And how are you doing with vertigo?
Shkaplerov: I don’t feel uncomfortable, thanks to the naturally strong vestibular apparatus. In addition, I am a professional pilot, I have been flying all my life.
But many cosmonauts feel sick, some cannot start working for a week, eat normally. They float around the ISS green. I mean, floating in weightlessness.
Yulia and Klim were afraid that they would also be unable to work and would not be able to keep up with the shooting in the allotted time. They were given only twelve days in orbit. But already on Earth it became clear to me: these guys can handle it. I saw how Yulia was training. One of the tests is a spin on a special chair. Ten minutes is the norm for a professional cosmonaut, and Yulia and Klim circled for fifteen, and they never vomited. And when they checked in weightlessness, they generally had fun!
TASS: How long can weightlessness last here on Earth?
Shkaplerov: It is practiced on board a special aircraft that moves by changing flight modes. First, the car gains altitude, and those in the cabin experience overload for twenty seconds. Then there is a mode of free fall, then weightlessness arises, it lasts about half a minute. Then climb again. In each flight, the aircraft makes a dozen of these “slides.”
In training, by the way, there were also shootings. Some of the operators were lying in the prone position, they were turning outward, but everything was fine with Yulia and Klim. And there were no problems on the ISS, they started filming from the very first day. What is there! Klim filmed almost from the start, the shots from the Soyuz are unique, you can’t rehearse them in advance. It is impossible to predict the emotions of a person who, four months ago, did not even think about space, and now is in a ship soaring up.
TASS: How do people behave?
Shkaplerov: Someone is praying, others are closing their eyes in fear. I have seen this many times, but we have cameras installed everywhere.
TASS: How quickly does in-orbit adaptation end and work begin?
Shkaplerov: A day or two tumbled, got used to it, and then you just work hard. But gradually increase the pace. With experience, you spend less time on buildup. If everything goes well, you can limit yourself to the bare minimum.
TASS: Does a woman on board create additional problems?
Shkaplerov: In principle, no. I flew with many representatives of the weaker sex, there were no complications. They take longer to wash, but we have many places for water procedures. And there are enough toilets: two in the Russian segment, one in the American segment.
TASS: Who is the senior in the kitchen on the ISS?
Shkaplerov: When we celebrate anniversary dates, we trust the girls to set the table. They are better able to create a festive mood, and not just get canned food. Yulia, for example, tried, prepared the birthday of Oleg Novitskii, who turned fifty. Together we inflated balloons for him.
TASS: And what, by the way, happens to them, with balls, in weightlessness?
Shkaplerov: Nothing special, they do not fly anywhere – neither up nor down.
TASS: You managed to celebrate the New Year in orbit four times. World record holder?
Shkaplerov: And celebrated four birthdays. Including two of his anniversaries – forty and fifty years.
TASS: How many times can you have time to meet January 1, circling around the Earth on the ISS?
Shkaplerov: Sixteen. If you count every time zone. But usually we limit ourselves to the “native” time of those who are on board this time. Somehow, I remember, they started with a Japanese, then they raised tubes with a delicacy for the Russian New Year, the Europeans were congratulated on Greenwich Mean Time. And Americans generally celebrate December 25, their main holiday is Christmas.
By the way, January 1 is a day off at the ISS.
TASS: Are there tubes of champagne?
Shkaplerov: You can’t taste carbonated drinks at the station. The Americans tried to open the cola, and she – shuh! – and shattered. Everything just got messed up.
A couple of times I glued the label of “Soviet” champagne on tubes with juice, which I printed out in advance on a printer.
TASS: Do you have special, space toasts?
Shkaplerov: We must sum up anyone with a common command: “For what has been said – three or four … Hurray, hurray, hurray!” Everyone knows this, even foreigners.
Aviation, military tradition: when the people at the table relax, start to get distracted, chat about something of their own, you need to gather them, concentrate their attention. They shouted: “Three-four!” – and drank together ….
About “Astrea.” the ability to wait, the prestige of the profession, television debut, fee and Cheburashka
TASS: What was your call sign on your last flight? And who chose him?
The choice is always up to the leader. This time I settled on Astrea. I wanted the word to start with the letter “a.” like my name. The first two letters immediately coincided, after all, I am a research pilot, one might say, an ace. Astraeus is Greek mythology, the titan who created the constellations.
He took the stars and scattered them across the sky. I think it sounds beautiful and symbolic. The word should be short, preferably one or two syllables, since the crew constantly uses the call sign in negotiations with the Earth, with Mission Control. If there was a report, and the appeal of “Astrey-3” sounded, it was immediately clear: this was for Yulia, the information was addressed to her.
TASS: In mid-March, you left the cosmonaut corps after spending twenty years in it. Now your official position – I quote – is the deputy head of the department for the selection and training of cosmonauts for flight and ground tests and operation of manned spacecraft of the TsPK. Oh, how solid! Are you fed up with space?
Shkaplerov: Everything is relative. I would like to try something new – ships, stations, planets … I’m ready for this. And now let others fly to the ISS. The age is already solid, when you are over fifty, you need to pass on the experience to the young.
TASS: You have been waiting for the first start for eight years. They came to the Star Detachment in 2003, and started on the Soyuz TMA-22 only in 2011. Waiting exhausting?
Shkaplerov: In fact, I was lucky, by our standards, I flew quickly and immediately as a commander. For comparison: in 2011, I was dubbed by a colleague who had been preparing for his flight for fourteen years. But he is not a record holder either, there are those who have been waiting for their turn for sixteen years. During this time I managed to fly three times.
TASS: So, endurance is one of the most important skills for an cosmonaut?
Shkaplerov: You don’t sit on the seashore with your hands folded, but you are constantly improving, learning. I was appointed understudy three times, moved from crew to crew, increased my knowledge base. And I managed to live in the USA for a year. We have a practice of such exchanges, which allows us to improve our English, get used to the country, so that later, when you arrive for pre-flight training, you don’t shy away.
TASS: Did you want to fly with the Americans?
Shkaplerov: Crew Dragon is a good ship, I like it. But now I have a lot of things to do at home: I charge young people for exploits. Three future flights have already been booked.
TASS: Is there a lot of competition?
Shkaplerov: On the contrary, there are not even enough personnel, we plan to recruit additional people for the cosmonaut corps.
TASS: Has the prestige of the profession fallen?
Shkaplerov: Probably not, though. It would be more correct to say that there is a shift. It’s time for the experienced to hand over the post by age, but there are not enough young guys. So now we are holding open sets. If earlier it was preferred to hire military pilots for the position of crew commander, now anyone can apply to the squad and check themselves. The same Anna Kikina, who returned from orbit on March 12 along with the Crew Dragon 5 spacecraft, once worked as a radio host in Altai ….
TASS: Remind me, who is our flight record holder?
Shkaplerov: The maximum number of times – six – Sergei Krikalyov flew into space. Most days in orbit – Gennadii Ivanovich Padalka. He has the first place in the world in terms of the duration of stay in space. A total of eight hundred seventy-eight days. Americans don’t have those numbers. In terms of the duration of flights, our cosmonauts occupy, I think, the first twenty places on the list. The Americans have those who launched five times on the Space Shuttle, but these were short business trips – for a couple of weeks. And then they didn’t fly their rockets at all for eight years when the Shuttle program ended in one fell swoop in 2011. They understood that this would be the case, but they did not have time to prepare a replacement: none of the companies that tried to solve the problem succeeded. But now they have three ships at once.
TASS: And we have the first film shot in orbit … What has changed for you personally after filming?
Shkaplerov: I came under close attention of journalists, which had never happened before. Everyone suddenly became interested in the details from the life of the film crew. Here you are asking ….
In addition, Channel One invited me to host the Space Stories podcast. I agreed.
It is high time to start something like this.
TASS: And how do you feel in the new role of a TV presenter?
While gaining experience. Released several programs. In the first, published on the eve of the New Year, I told how the holiday is celebrated in orbit. Recently, Rafail Murtazin, a leading specialist in ballistics, was filmed. I was going to ask the guest in detail, but I didn’t even ask half of the questions. Did not have time! It’s a shame that the format is limited in time, we discuss exclusive topics, no one has talked about them in the press yet.
TASS: What didn’t you find out?
Shkaplerov: For example, how Yurii Gagarin was launched.
TASS: Are there still secrets here?
Shkaplerov: Rafail Farvazovich, together with his colleagues, calculated the ballistics of the flight of the first man into space using modern technology. Now you can explain why Yuri Alekseevich landed where he was not expected: in a field near Saratov.
And the conversation with fellow cosmonaut Alexander Lazutkin turned out to be incredibly interesting. In life, we rarely manage to sit quietly and chat. Sasha flew on Mir, literally went through fire and copper pipes: during his flight there was a fire, depressurization ….
Each transfer is like a discovery for me. I hope the audience doesn’t get bored either.
TASS: Do you get a fee?
Shkaplerov: So far, pilot releases.
TASS: Isn’t it too much trial piloting?
Shkaplerov: No, it’s fine. I am ready to work in such projects for free.
TASS: Well, did they at least pay you for the movie?
Shkaplerov: In space, we performed official duties, but here, on Earth, we were allowed to go on vacation at our own expense so that we could be filmed in the film. So they said: do not pay you twice!
TASS: Your rates, probably, were like those of novice artists?
Shkaplerov: Of course. Debutants will not be paid hundreds of thousands of rubles for a shooting day, as if they were popular and recognized. But we didn’t go for money, everyone was interested. What is there to say? A second chance is unlikely to come. Half of the employees of the Cosmonaut Training Center lit up in the Challenge. Klim promised to everyone: at least for thirty seconds, but you will get into the frame. People came and he looked for roles.
TASS: Have you seen Cheburashka?
Shkaplerov: We went with our youngest daughter Kira in February, while we were relaxing in a sanatorium in Pyatigorsk. Cool.
TASS: Chevurashka earned more than six billion rubles at the box office. Do you think the Challenge will be able to surpass?
Shkaplerov: I hope so. I would like to. Our film also has powerful publicity.
TASS: Do you think one successful art picture can return the romance of the profession? To make children want to fly into space again, like before?
Shkaplerov: Certainly! Challenge is not about some special hero, but about an ordinary person.
TASS: Do the stars in the sky not beckon your daughters?
Shkaplerov: Dad has a good profession, but they want another. Daughters have their own priorities. Kira is graduating from school, while in thought, where to move on. Kristina after the Institute of Oil and Gas is engaged in ecology. She likes.
TASS: Did you introduce the girls to Yulia Peresild?
Shkaplerov: Necessarily. And with Klim. Before the flight, everyone met, the families came to the start, they were there together.
TASS: Before that, did your relatives see you off at Baikonur?
Shkaplerov: Certainly. Every time. Tradition! This time, however, there were generally many invited guests.
TASS: Were you distracted from the final stage of preparation?
Shkaplerov: Trained people made sure that no one interfered with us, did not pull. Therefore, in September 2022, we specially flew to the launch of the Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft, filming what was required for the film.
TASS: Can you be more specific?
Shkaplerov: We needed a moment of launch, an approach to the rocket, a report to the chairman of the State Commission … I was not too lazy, I calculated: we made fourteen takes! Probably, in my whole life I have not spent so much time at the ship on the launch pad … Double after double. On September 20, Baikonur was still very hot, the sun was merciless, and we were in airtight spacesuits … In a word, it was hard. But cinema is cinema, I had to endure.
TASS: Did you recognize yourself on the screen?
Shkaplerov: To be honest, I was a bit surprised. Thought I looked different. And the voice is different, like someone else’s. So it seemed to me. We don’t see ourselves ….
TASS: But in general, did you like the filming process?
Shkaplerov: Yes, an interesting experience. Dipped in, saw how it’s done. Now I can imagine who and what is doing on the set, how one or another member of the film crew works.
Still, they lived together for twelve to fourteen hours every day ….
TASS: So whose bread is harder – actors or cosmonauts?
Shkaplerov: I don’t even know … It was very difficult in front of the camera.
Linked from Cosmonaut news; Cosmonaut group