Cosmonaut fired for giving space station film a rocket

A former cosmonaut was removed from a senior post at Russia’s space agency after he criticised plans to shoot the world’s first feature film on board the International Space Station (ISS). Sergei Krikalev, 62, who has spent more than 800 days in space, said that he had been dismissed by Roscosmos after he spoke out against the production of Challenge, a drama about a female surgeon who has to operate on a cosmonaut in space. Russia selected an actress and a director last month to produce the film. Yulia Peresild and Klim Shipenko are due to fly to the ISS in October.