Russia has taken the lead in a space race with a difference, sending a team to the International Space Station to shoot a feature film ahead of an American crew. Yulia Peresild, 37, is set to star in the film, directed by Klim Shipenko. Their Soyuz MS-19 spacecraft took off from Baikonur in Kazakhstan, and three hours later docked with the International Space Station. Actor Tom Cruise and Nasa have also been planning to make a film there. There was more than a touch of showbusiness glamour when the Soyuz crew launched on Tuesday, as the TV cameras focused on Peresild and 12-year-old daughter Anna, who was watching from a safe distance. It was from the Kazakh steppes where camels and gophers roam, rather than in the studios of Hollywood that real actors went into space at 11:55 Moscow time, said Russia’s Komsomolskaya Pravda website. Klipenko’s actress wife Sofia Karpunina noted that the director had had to shed 15kg (33lbs) beforehand.(NU)…[+]