THEIR movie props floated around and they used Velcro to keep objects in place but Russia’s first film crew in space said they were delighted with the result and had “shot everything we planned.” Yulia Peresild, one of Russia’s most glamourous actresses, and film director Klim Shipenko returned to Earth on Sunday after spending 12 days on the International Space Station (ISS) shooting the first movie in orbit in an effort to beat the United States. The plot of “The Challenge” has been mostly kept under wraps along with the budget. It centers around a surgeon who is dispatched to the ISS to save a cosmonaut. A beaming Shipenko told reporters that the task was a “huge challenge” and they had to constantly adapt to film scenes. They shot more than 30 hours worth of footage which will later be edited down to around 30 minutes. “We’ve shot everything we planned,” Shipenko said from the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center outside Moscow where he and Peresild, 37, have been adapting to life back on Earth and learning to walk again. Asked about a possible Moon sequel, Shipenko told a news conference: “We’re ready. We believe space cinema should be filmed in space. If it’s about the Moon, let’s go to the Moon, if it’s Mars, let’s go to Mars. Why not? Why should cinema be filmed in a studio?” He said his stint on the ISS was full of professional discoveries and added that he would never have been able to shoot on Earth what he had shot in space. （SD-Agencies) | 