Space Vehicle/Ground Station

Russian cosmonauts aboard the ISS successfully removed and redocked a Soyuz capsule to make room for the arrival of a film crew to the ISS next month. A NASA spokesperson called it a “perfect approach and flawless docking”. The Russian film crew will be making history next month for the first movie ever filmed in space. The movie, called “Challenge”, will be shooting for about a week and a half before the civilian film crew returns to Earth. They (and their backups) recently received a thumbs up on their bill of health from Roscosmos before their launch.

The biggest concern with human spaceflight will be the security of the space vehicle. Making sure only authorized personnel have access to the module as well as ensuring the robustness of the spacecraft to any kinetic (knocking the spacecraft off trajectory) or cyber (taking unauthorized control of the spacecraft away from the crew) attacks that could lead to a hostage situation, by professional actors seeking a ransom. Specifically for a film production, thrill seekers or corporate espionage actors might try to gain access to the ground station networks to get critical data about the filming (either about the film itself or about the cast and crew).