Times Colonist

NASA ‘all in’ for Tom Cruise film on space station

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CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida — NASA is rolling out the Internatio­nal Space Station’s red carpet for Tom Cruise to make a movie in orbit.

The space agency’s administra­tor, Jim Bridenstin­e, said before Wednesday’s planned launch of two NASA astronauts aboard a SpaceX rocket that Elon Musk’s company is already getting customers eager to blast off. Cruise is one of them. Bridenstin­e said he’ll leave it to Cruise and SpaceX to provide the mission details.

“I will tell you this: NASA has been in talks with Tom Cruise and, of course, his team, and we will do everything we can to make it a successful mission, including opening up the Internatio­nal Space Station,” he told the Associated Press.

Asked about Cruise filming on the space station, Musk told CBS This Morning: “Actually, I think that remains to be seen. We are supportive and I think NASA is supportive of anything that captures the imaginatio­n of the public.”

Bridenstin­e said the whole reason NASA created “this commercial marketplac­e” is so SpaceX, Boeing and other private companies can attract customers besides the U.S. government. That will drive down costs to American taxpayers, he said, and increase access to space for all types of people — celebritie­s included.

“I don’t admit this very often … but I was inspired to become a Navy pilot because when I was in elementary school, I watched the movie Top Gun,” the 44-year-old Bridenstin­e said.

Cruise starred as Navy pilot Pete “Maverick” Mitchell in the 1986 film. A sequel is due out this year.

“The question is: ‘Can Tom Cruise make a new movie that inspires the next generation Elon Musk.’ And if he can do that, then we’re all for it. NASA is all in,“Bridenstin­e said.

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