Posted: October 27, 2021

Travel just got tricky for the thousands of people who use public transportation in Washington, D.C. More than half the city’s trains were halted last week. Officials stopped the trains for safety. The National Transportation Safety Board says that the trains’ wheels spread too far on the axles. They could accidently slip off the tracks. The board is investigating the safety problem.

Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority General Manager Paul Wiedefeld told reporters that no one knows when the 748 train cars that were pulled from service will be back on the tracks. It will take weeks to inspect them all. The Kawasaki 7000-series line of trains are the newest trains on the Washington tracks, but they are flawed.

Mr. Wiedefeld apologized to riders for the schedule disruption. “I want to assure our customers that their safety is driving every decision being made,” Mr. Wiedefeld explained.

The decision is snarling travel. It makes commutes chaotic. (A commute is travel back and forth between home and work.) Passengers report crowded trains and long delays.

Engineers are working to bring older train cars back into service. That will help get people where they need to go. But first, those older trains must be carefully inspected for safety too. Until more cars are operating, riders can expect delays.

The Kawasaki company designed trains for other cities including New York City and Chicago. Will those trains be pulled from service? Not yet. A spokesperson for New York City’s Metropolitan Transit Authority says that it has different Kawasaki models than Washington. Chicago reports that its trains are made by a different manufacturer and will not be taken out of service.

Officials in Washington have been watching the Kawasaki 7000 train cars since 2017. That’s when problems first started. They are getting worse. Mr. Wiedefeld says his agency is working to “inspect every wheel” on the 7000-series cars. The process is a hassle for the many people who use them. But the hassle is worth it for everyone’s safety.

Posted: October 26, 2021

What’s wrong with Ohio’s new license plate? It has the right (or should we say “Wright”) plane on it. The tag shows a picture of the Wright Brothers’ flying machine. But look closely. The banner that the plane is pulling is stuck to the wrong end of the plane. Whoops!

People saw the new tag when it was introduced by the Department of Motor Vehicles on October 21. It didn’t take long for many to spot the mistake. The picture of the famous 1903 Wright Flyer was flipped. The front of the plane was where the back should be.

The design swapped the location of the plane’s elevators. The elevators were on the front of the plane. They kept the plane from taking a nose-dive through the air. The original plane had the propeller behind the pilot’s feet. The pilot lay on the frame of the machine facing the elevators. The design on the license tag put the elevators on the back of the plane instead of on the front.

The new license plate shows rays of sunlight beaming through the sky. A banner that says “Birthplace of Aviation” is draped across the horizon. The banner should be trailing behind the plane, not the front. The drawing makes the plane look like it is flying backwards.

According to Cable News Network, officials in Ohio noticed the design flaw the same day the new tag was revealed. “We are aware that the plane on the new Ohio license plate unveiled this morning was oriented in the wrong direction. We regret this mistake and have fixed the image. This is the correct design that will be reflected on all new plates issued to Ohio drivers,” apologized the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles.  

Orville and Wilbur Wright were the inventors of the first flight by a manned aircraft. The brothers were from Dayton, Ohio. They took their airplane all the way to windy Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. That’s where they first flew successfully on December 17, 1903.

The corrected Ohio plates are expected to land on the market on December 29.

Posted: October 25, 2021

What rattles inside old candy tins? A valuable coin was found hiding among hundreds of other coins in such a container in the United Kingdom. The old, old, old coin is a New England shilling. The rare piece will be sold at an auction in November. It could bring in around $300,000!

Coins don’t stay put. They travel. (In economic terms, we say they circulate.) The same coins are used over and over by different people. The candy tin coin wasn’t made in the United Kingdom where it was found. It was minted in Boston, Massachusetts. When coins are minted, they are stamped with an official mark. The mark on this shilling tells historians that it was minted in 1652. That’s over 300 years ago!

There are only about 40 silver one-shilling coins left in the world. That small number makes them hard to find! James Morton is the auctioneer’s coin specialist at Morton & Eden Ltd. He couldn’t believe his eyes when he spotted the New England shilling. It is in excellent condition!

Mr. Morton says the coin was made by mint-master John Hull in 1652 in Boston. It was used by early settlers in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Mr. Hull and his assistant, Robert Sanderson, were appointed by the Massachusetts General Court to mint North America’s first silver coins. How did one of America’s very first silver coins get across the Atlantic Ocean to the United Kingdom, hundreds of years later?

The shilling belongs to Wentworth “Wenty” Beaumont. Mr. Beaumont’s father found the coin in the tin in his study at the family estate in northern England. “I can only assume that the shilling was brought back from America years ago by one of my forebears,” says the current owner.

William Wentworth was Mr. Beaumont’s ancestor. He was an early settler of New England. He probably arrived in the colonies in 1636. That means Mr. Wentworth likely got the coin when it was brand new.

Soon, the rare coin will belong to someone else. When it is auctioned, where might it travel next?

Posted: October 22, 2021

This bus tour is a snooze! Usually, that would drive customers away. But a nap is just what these Hong Kong bus riders are looking for.

The double-decker bus takes people on a 47-mile, five-hour journey. It is meant to appeal to people who are easily lulled to sleep by long rides.

Kenneth Kong organizes the bus tours. His company is called Ulu Travel.

“When we were brainstorming new tours, I saw a social media post from my friend saying that he was stressed out by his work. He couldn’t sleep at night,” says Mr. Kong. “But when he was traveling on the bus, he was able to sleep well.” That post inspired the tour.

Tickets cost between $13 and $51 per person, depending on where passengers choose to sit. The upper deck is more expensive. But it is extra quiet. Passengers also get a meal and a goodie bag. The bag includes an eye mask and ear plugs for better sleep.

The first “Sleeping Bus Tour” last week sold out. Some passengers brought their own blankets and slippers. Others brought travel pillows.

“I have been suffering from insomnia, so I am here to try and get some sleep,” says Anson Kong. The 25-year-old was one of the passengers on the first bus tour.

Like a regular tour, the bus stops at tourist spots. One stop was near the airport. Passengers snagged selfies with planes in the background.

Dr. Shirley Li runs a sleep research clinic at the University of Hong Kong. Dr. Li says many people in Hong Kong don’t have enough time to sleep. Some nap on their daily bus commute.

“For some people, they may tend to associate public transport with their sleep. And that’s why they found it easier to fall asleep on the bus,” she says.

In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety. — Psalm 4:8

Posted: October 21, 2021

“Go, Lucy!”

That’s what lead scientist Hal Levison says. He’s watching Lucy, an Atlas V rocket, blast off into space. His team worked hard on the spacecraft.

Lucy will travel almost four billion miles. She will be gone for 12 years.

What will she “see” on her trip?

Eight asteroids. Seven of the mysterious space rocks share Jupiter’s orbit.

To be clear, thousands or even millions of asteroids move around the Sun with Jupiter. This big group of space rocks is called the Trojan entourage. (An entourage is a group of people or, in this case, things that regularly hangs around another person or thing.) These asteroids are far from the planet and mostly scattered far from each other. So Lucy shouldn’t get clobbered by one as she swoops past her targets.

Lucy will swing past Earth next October. She’ll fly by again in 2024. These trips act like whirling slingshots, in a way. Earth’s gravity will whip her around this planet and then propel her outward toward space. That will give her enough gravitational oomph to make it all the way out to Jupiter’s orbit. On the way there, the spacecraft will also zip past an asteroid between Mars and Jupiter.

Lucy draws power from two huge circular solar wings. She’ll chase down five asteroids in the Trojans in the late 2020s. The spacecraft will then zoom back toward Earth for another gravity assist in 2030. That will send her back out to investigate more Trojans. She should reach the final two targets in 2033.

Lucy’s biggest target is an asteroid that’s about 70 miles across. What will it look like? Will it have mountains? Valleys?

Scientists can’t wait to find out. But they’ll have to. Jupiter is about 420 million miles away. Lucy can’t get there overnight!

The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims His handiwork. — Psalm 19:1

Posted: October 20, 2021

Why are the employees at Deere & Co. skipping work? They’re going on strike. More than 10,000 of them are!

Deere & Co. makes the famous green farm machines you might recognize: John Deere Tractors. This year, the company sold a lot. It made more money than ever—as much as $5.9 billion. Deere workers want to see some of that extra cash in their paychecks. After all, they worked a lot of long hours throughout the pandemic. And companies are facing worker shortages. This makes their labor extra valuable.

A strike happens when employees refuse to work. They stop working because they’re unhappy with the way a company is treating them. Sometimes it’s over pay. Other times, it may be over safety. Without workers, companies can’t do anything. So if a strike drags on long enough, a company may give in. Workers may get what they want.

A handful of workers began forming a picket line last week outside the Deere & Co.’s plant in Milan, Illinois. Their workers’ union dropped off a metal barrel and firewood to keep them warm while they protested.

The strike affects many people—not just Deere employees. Farmers rely on tractor parts produced by striking workers. It’s harvest time. What if a tractor breaks down and no one has the parts to fix it? Deere employees want a good deal. Farmers want everyone to get back to work fast.

Whoever works his land will have plenty of bread. — Proverbs 12:11

Posted: October 19, 2021

That was one heavy necklace. Wildlife officials in Colorado finally caught an elk they’d been seeking for two years. They first spotted the ornamented animal in July 2019. It had a car tire around its neck like a collar. At that time, they could not capture the elk to remove the heavy tire.

Last Saturday, someone saw the elk near Pine Junction. That town is southwest of Denver, Colorado. A wildlife officer got the elk in his sights. He tranquilized it with a dart. (That means the elk went into a deep sleep.)

In order to remove the tire, the wildlife officers had to cut off the elk’s five-point antlers.

“We would have preferred to cut the tire and leave the antlers,” says Officer Scott Murdoch. But the steel inside the tire was too strong to be cut. And the tire wouldn’t fit over the elk’s rack. “We just had to get the tire off in any way possible,” Mr. Murdoch continued.

Within just minutes of the tire’s removal, the elk was awake again. Soon, it was on its feet, ready to rejoin its herd.

The Colorado Parks and Wildlife agency says the bull elk is about four-and-a-half years old. He weighs around 600 pounds. The poor creature had lived almost half its life with that heavy tire around its neck. Mr. Murdoch and fellow officer Dawson Swanson say the elk shed about 35 pounds instantly. That was the combined weight of the tire, the antlers, and the debris (in this case, pine needles and dirt) inside the tire.

Free from that heavy burden, the elk will be returned to the wild. He can now move easier and keep his balance better on the uneven terrain of the Rocky Mountains.

Wildlife officers say they have seen deer, elk, moose, bears, and other wildlife become entangled in a number of items. Those include swing sets, hammocks, clotheslines, holiday lighting, furniture, tomato cages, chicken feeders, laundry baskets, soccer goals, and volleyball nets.

God, the Lord, is my strength; He makes my feet like the deer’s; He makes me tread on my high places. — Habakkuk 3:19

Posted: October 18, 2021

“Thank you very much!” says the trash can. It’s talking to the person tossing in some refuse. People living in Jerusalem, Israel, are using the talking waste bin. They hope it will encourage others to help clean up the neighborhood.

A simple thanks goes a long way. That’s what local residents in the Pat neighborhood of Jerusalem are finding out. They installed a talking trash bin next to a bus stop. The container applauds people who use it. A recording of a child’s voice thanks people for taking time to throw away litter.

Jerusalem’s street are known for being dirty. The bustling city has many wonderful things to offer. But it also has potholes, traffic jams, and piles of trash.

The new trash bin uses solar panels for its power. Sensors pick up activity around it—such as when trash goes into the bin. The sensor then triggers a device that expresses gratitude in different voices.

“Our neighborhood is dirty, and we want to make a difference,” says Talya Tomer. “We want to have clean, clean streets that look nice and are nice to walk in.”

Out of respect for the Jewish Sabbath, a volunteer turns the trash can off every Friday at sundown. The Jewish Sabbath is a day of rest. Jewish people remember the story of creation and how God rested on the seventh day. (Most Christians moved that day of rest from Saturday to Sunday, the first day of the week.) So that no one is bothered by its talking, the trash bin takes a timeout on Saturdays in Jerusalem.

Trash cans that speak or make funny noises are also popping up in places across Europe. They’ve been spotted in London, Berlin, and other big cities.

Saying thank you is an easy way to encourage people! Paul began many of his letters with a thankful heart. 1 Thessalonians 1:2 says, “We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers.”

Posted: October 15, 2021

Ever heard the saying, “Every dog has its day”? Liza the pooch’s day was last Tuesday. She had been trapped deep inside a rocky crevice at a New York state park. After five days, volunteers finally rescued her.

A woman was hiking with the dog at the Minnewaska State Park Preserve. Suddenly, Liza fell out of sight into a crevice. Park staffers couldn’t reach the barking canine.

The New Jersey Initial Response Team came to help. The volunteer group specializes in cave rescue. Two members squeezed into the crevice. They managed to get a camera close enough to observe Liza.

The 12-year-old dog went days without food or water. But rescuers watching camera footage saw her licking the damp walls of the crevice. That moisture helped her survive.

Rescuer Jessica Van Ord shimmied through the passage. She used a hot dog hanging from the end of a pole with a loop on it. The tasty sausage lured Liza into putting her head into the loop. Another rescuer nearby closed the loop.

The crack in the rocks was narrow and tight. “Only Jessica Van Ord, our smallest team member, was able to squeeze and contort herself more than 40 feet from the surface to reach the dog,” says Mark Dickey. He led the response team.

The rescuers put Liza into a rescue pack. They hauled her to the surface. Liza was hungry and thirsty, but unhurt. She reunited with her owner.

Park officials say this is a good reminder that rules require dogs to be kept on leashes. That protects the pets, other people, and the park.

The rescuers worked hard to rescue the pet. But God cares for us much more than the rescuers did for Liza. Matthew 10:29, 31 says, “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. . . . Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.”

Posted: October 14, 2021

Return to the waves, surfers! “Surf City USA” is back in business. The popular Southern California beach was off limits for more than a week. Why? An undersea pipeline leaked oil into the ocean. Officials testing the water say it’s safe to swim in again.

“Surf City USA” is Huntington Beach’s nickname. It’s near where the oil spill happened. Surfers and beachcombers said everything looked fine from shore. But officials still spent days testing the ocean water. When they felt confident that there was no poison from oil in the water, the beach reopened.

The oil spill harmed the surf-loving city of 200,000 people. When the beach closed, local shops lost much-needed business. Fisheries shut down too. People wonder if the leaked oil will have a negative impact on marine habitats.

Crude oil is a yellowish-black liquid found in the Earth. It can be processed to make gasoline and diesel fuel. Coast Guard officials report that a pipeline leaked between 25,000 and 132,000 gallons of crude oil into the ocean. The leak was discovered on October 2. That’s when people smelled an odd odor. It came from oil escaping the pipeline. Investigators think a ship’s anchor might have damaged the pipeline.

Now that the beach is open, some people are cautiously entering the water. But not everyone is ready to hit the waves. Sean Rinehart is a surf instructor from Huntington Beach. He headed out to surf this week but quickly changed his mind. The smell of dead fish near the pier stopped him. He last surfed on October 2. That’s when he says he wound up in an oil slick. It made his skin itchy. “I want to go in, but no way,” he says.

The sand looks clear near the pier. There is no smell of oil now. But in some ways, the beach still looks a little funny. Workers wearing protective clothing wander the sand. They’re looking for gunky blobs of oil to pick up. It seems that they’re doing a great job.

Matt Harty is a regular to the beach. He says, “This is the cleanest I’ve seen the beach in years, right, because there’s been nobody here for a week. I think they cleaned it up really well.”

Posted: October 13, 2021

The French ambassador’s living room is noisy. SCREECH! A talkative bird jibber jabbers from a new cage in the room. SQUAWK! The ambassador’s feathered friend is named Juji. It lives in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). But it hasn’t always called the UAE home. Juji came from Afghanistan. But unlike the stories of many people who fled that country this summer and fall, Juji’s story is a happy one.

France helped evacuate thousands of Afghans. French Ambassador Xavier Chatel scrambled to assist officials in the UAE rescue of many refugees. (A refugee is a person who is forced to leave his or her home country.) Around 2,600 refugees squeezed onto flights out of Kabul. The group flew first to Abu Dhabi on its way to Paris, France.

When the planes landed in Abu Dhabi, Ambassador Chatel received a security alert. Officers discovered illegal cargo on board a plane.

A young woman clutched a mystery cardboard box. It held her beloved pet. Juji is a yellow-beaked mynah bird. Mynah birds are native to southern Asia. Some make sounds like words. They can sound just like people talking!

Because of cleanliness concerns, there was no way that the woman could bring Juji on the flight. She started to cry when officials told her that her pet couldn’t board with her. The little creature was her only possession. Juji would have to stay in Abu Dhabi.

Ambassador Chatel says, “She had lost everything. She had lost her country. She had lost her house. She had lost her life.”

The ambassador decided to give Juji a home. The bird’s owner explained how to care for Juji. He likes to eat cucumbers, grapes, bread slices, and the occasional potato, she says. The ambassador promised to take good care of the chatty fowl.

The young woman traveled on to France. When she got there, she connected with the ambassador through social media. She wanted to make sure her pet was okay.

The ambassador sent videos of Juji snacking on fruit, flitting around its white cage, and even speaking the French word bonjour, which means “good day.” Juji will live with Ambassador Chatel until he can figure out how to reunite the bird with its owner.

Posted: October 12, 2021

Plane ticket holders, beware. Southwest Airlines canceled hundreds of flights over the weekend. Officials blamed air traffic control issues and the weather. By 5 o’clock p.m. on Sunday, the airline had dropped more than 1,000 flights.

Southwest Airlines tried to explain what happened. In an emailed statement, the company says bad weather was to blame. Then, unexpected air traffic control issues made things worse. Both of those problems triggered tons of flight cancellations. This caused disruptions in flight schedules.  

“We’ve continued diligent work throughout the weekend to reset our operation,” says Southwest Airlines. The message went on, saying the airline would “focus on getting aircraft and crews repositioned to take care of our customers.” The company admits that it is hard to get flights back on track after canceling some. That’s because fewer flights are running between cities.

Henry H. Harteveldt is the president and travel industry analyst at Atmosphere Research Group. He says there are several reasons for Southwest Airlines’ troubles. First, the airline scheduled more flights than it can handle. Second, Southwest Airlines schedules flights on a point-to-point route. That means that flights make multiple stops along the way to their final destinations. When a flight is late to one of those stops, it causes delays at the flight’s next stops too. A third reason for the trouble has to do with pilots.

Southwest says that all employees must have COVID-19 vaccines. If they don’t get the vaccine by December 8, they can’t keep working for the airline. Some pilots disagree with that decision. They either choose not to have the vaccine, or they say that their employer shouldn’t require it.

Mr. Harteveldt says it is likely that some pilots are “calling in sick,” even if they are not. This can create a situation called a “work slowdown.” That is when employees stop working unexpectedly. Work slowdowns are illegal because they can harm companies who depend on their workers. They can also harm customers who use the services of those companies.

The Southwest Airlines Pilots Association (SWAPA) says its pilots are not participating in any official or unofficial job actions.

For now, people may need extra patience while the airline sorts out its air traffic troubles. 1 Corinthians 13:4 reminds us, “Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant.” Sometimes God gives us opportunities to show love in places of business. This could be one of those times for travelers.

Posted: October 11, 2021

Gorillas pose for selfies too! Ndakasi was a beloved mountain gorilla. Her claim to fame came when she posed for a photo with a park ranger. Everyone at Congo’s Virung National Park loved the sweet gorilla. Sadly, Ndakasi died on September 26, 2021, after a long illness. She was 14 years old.

Ndakasi was two months old when park rangers found her. The baby gorilla was clinging to the body of her mother who had been killed. Ranger Andre Bauma became Ndakasi’s caregiver. The two bonded.

“It was a privilege to support and care for such a loving creature,” says Mr. Bauma. He fondly remembers the creature’s “sweet nature and intelligence.” Of the endangered primates, he also says, “We should do everything in our power to protect them.”

Ndakasi lived with other orphaned mountain gorillas at Virunga National Park’s Senkwekwe Center. Her life was featured in shows and the documentary film Virunga. But it was a 2019 photograph that gave Ndakasi internet fame. A park ranger (not Mr. Bauma) took the now-famous photo. Ndakasi stood on her two back feet with her belly pushed out. Another gorilla named Ndeze is nearby.

There are very few mountain gorillas left in the world. They live in Congo, Rwanda, and Uganda, three neighboring African countries. But there is good news! The wild mountain gorilla population is starting to grow. According to World Wildlife Fund, there were 604 mountain gorillas in 2015 and 2016. In 2019 that number topped 1,000. The three countries where these gorillas live are working hard to protect them, and it’s working!

God gave us the BIG responsibility and privilege of caring for His creation. We serve Him when we do it well.

For every beast of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills. — Psalm 50:10

Posted: October 8, 2021

Birds are flocking to Rabbit Island, Louisiana. The state rebuilt the shrunken island. That’s a big help for these feathered friends.

Rabbit Island used to be about 290 acres. (One acre is a little smaller than a football field. Can you imagine almost 290 football fields together?) The island eroded to about 200 acres. That means some ground had washed away. Much of the land that was left was under water. Other parts of the island were too low. High tides often covered bird nests.

Last fall, workers started moving silt (sand or clay) to the island. They had planned to add 88 acres. But they ended up adding 102 acres instead. Now parts of the island are up to three and a half feet above sea level. That’s good news for nests.

Pelicans, egrets, herons, ibis, terns, and other water birds built about 6,100 nests on Rabbit Island. That’s more than 16 times the number scientists had expected! Twelve species nested there this year.

The brown pelican is the Louisiana state bird. The only brown pelican colony in southwest Louisiana is on the island. About 1,500 pairs of pelicans were among the nesting birds.

The project cost a LOT of money—$16.4 million. The oil and gas company BP paid money to make up for its terrible 2010 oil spill. Some of that payment funded the idea. Tens of thousands of birds died in the spill. Clean-up workers rescued some of the fowl. They released hundreds on Rabbit Island.

The project is not quite over. Workers will plant grasses and shrubs on the island. That will make it even more attractive to the birds.

I know all the birds of the hills, and all that moves in the field is mine. — Psalm 50:11

Posted: October 7, 2021

Israeli archaeologists found a VERY OLD toilet in Jerusalem. The toilet’s discovery was a BIG surprise! That’s because private bathrooms weren’t common in ancient Israel. They were a luxury that most people could not afford. Authorities announced that the rare toilet is more than 2,700 years old!

The ancient toilet doesn’t look like toilets do today. The Israeli Antiquities Authority says that someone carved this one from a smooth piece of limestone. The creator designed it for comfortable sitting. A deep septic tank sits beneath the aged commode. The tank is an underground chamber for waste.

Archaeologists found the fixture inside a rectangular cabin. The cabin apparently served like a bathroom. It appears to have been part of a sprawling mansion that overlooked Jerusalem.

“A private toilet cubicle was very rare in antiquity, and only a few were found to date,” says Yaakov Billig, the director of the excavation. “Only the rich could afford toilets,” he explains. Mr. Billig notes that a famous rabbi once said that to be wealthy is “to have a toilet next to his table.”

Believe it or not, archaeologists found a few things in the septic tank. Animal bones and pottery inside the tank give clues about the people who used it. Scientists will study those things to learn more about the lifestyle and diet of people living at the time. Staff members from the antiquities authority say they hope to learn more about ancient diseases by studying the find too.

The fancy toilet wasn’t the only discovery archaeologists made at the site. They found stone capitals and columns. It looks like there was a nearby garden with orchards and aquatic plants. That’s more evidence that the people who lived there were quite wealthy.

The discovery of an ancient toilet in Jerusalem prompts us to think about biblical times. About 2,000 years have gone by since Jesus’ earthly ministry. We can wonder, was He invited to any homes with fancy toilets?

Posted: October 6, 2021

We have ignition. We have lift off! Next—Lights. Camera. Action! Russian actor Yulia Peresild and film director Klim Shipenko blasted off into space on Tuesday. They will spend 12 days at the International Space Station. That’s where they’ll make history by filming a movie in outer space.

Cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov escorted the film crew to outer space. (A cosmonaut is the title of a Russian astronaut.) The team arrived at the space station three and a half hours after taking off from the Russian space launch facility in Baikonur, Kazakhstan. Mr. Shkaplerov has been on three previous space missions. He will stick around the International Space Station when Ms. Peresild and Mr. Shipenko return to Earth. Another Russian cosmonaut will take them back home.

While in space, the crew will film segments of a movie. Its working title is Challenge. The movie is about a doctor who rushes to space to save a crew member with a heart condition. The actress and director trained for months in preparation for their space mission.

What was the most challenging part of space-prep for Ms. Peresild? Learning about the design and handling of the spacecraft, she admits. “It didn’t come easy for me, to be honest,” says Ms. Peresild.

The actress had the most fun on a flight simulating weightlessness. On that flight, the plane she was in took a steep dive. Everyone inside felt zero gravity for about 20 seconds. The flight helped prepare the crew for the true weightlessness they would experience in space.

Mr. Shipenko says that the four-month training course didn’t turn him and Ms. Peresild into professional astronauts. But it did prepare them for the mission. The director is thrilled to be the first filmmaker in space.

At the space station, the three Russian crew members will join a handful of other space travelers already at the station. They include NASA astronauts, Japanese astronauts, and two other Russian cosmonauts. Each of the Russian cosmonauts will play parts in the movie.