Actor Tom Cruise is working with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to shoot a film in outer space, particularly on the International Space Station (ISS).
NASA has confirmed that it is working with Tom Cruise to make a film in outer space, specifically on the ISS. A NASA spokesperson added that as part of the project, Cruise will travel to space and stay aboard the space station.
The ISS is a multibillion-dollar laboratory that orbits about 250 miles above Earth and since 2000, it has been continuously inhabited by rotating crews of astronauts and cosmonauts. It was built as a partnership among dozens of countries, but the US and Russia were tasked as primary operators.
According to a 2018 government report, maintaining the US portion of space station, where astronauts conduct scientific and commercial research, annually costs taxpayers around $3 billion to $4 billion.
Tom Cruise in Space
Previously, there have been a few films recorded on board the space station, including a 2002 IMAX documentary which Cruise narrated and "Apogee of Fear," a 2012 science fiction film by entrepreneur and space tourist Richard Garriott, the son of an astronaut.
However, Cruise could be the first actor to endure space travel. According to a Deadline story, the proposed film will become "the first narrative feature film -- an action adventure -- to be shot in outer space."
In a tweet, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said: "NASA is excited to work with @TomCruise on a film aboard the @Space_Station! We need popular media to inspire a new generation of engineers and scientists to make @NASA's ambitious plans a reality.”
Details of how and when Cruise would travel to the ISS and what additional crew members he would take with him, remain unclear.
Currently, Russia remains the only nation capable of sending people to and from the space station. However, SpaceX and Boeing have been working for years to develop spacecraft that will enable the US to regain this capability.
Space launch from US
In April, NASA announced that it will launch astronauts from US soil to the ISS for the first time in nearly a decade. Astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken will launch from the US on a mission to the ISS on May 27.
The astronauts will be aboard SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft, which will be carried atop a Falcon 9 rocket. The rocket will lift off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 4:32 p.m.
This will be the first space mission launched from the US since NASA’s Space Shuttle program retired in 2011 and will also be the first crewed mission for SpaceX since it was founded 18 years ago.
Despite its historical significance for the country, NASA will not allow crowds of spectators to line the beaches and viewing sites along Florida’s Space Coast to witness the launch due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The space agency will only permit a handful of reporters on the site and will not invite any member of the public.
Dale Ketcham, a vice president at Space Florida, a local industry group, said: “This has become yet another footnote in the story of coronavirus and its impact on America. But NASA is continuing to press ahead with Commercial Crew because there is a profound obligation to keep space station operational.”
