Cruise Wants to Fly to Space Station

By Stephen M. Silverman

04/18/2002 at 10:00 AM EDT

It was Mission: Possible Wednesday night in Washington, D.C., reports PEOPLE, with the world premiere of the new IMAX production, "Space Station 3-D." And on the red carpet outside the National Air and Space Museum, where the screening was held, was the narrator of the movie: Tom Cruise, with girlfriend Penelope Cruz on his arm. The star, 39, told PEOPLE that he first fell in love with outer space back when he was 7. "As I kid," he said, flashing his famous smile through newly acquired dental braces, "I just remember watching the Apollo mission, you know, the landings." To prepare for narrating the movie, Cruise trained with genuine astronauts at Houston's Johnson Space Center last fall, then viewed rough cuts of 3-D film footage shot by astronauts aboard the International Space Station as it was under construction some 240 miles above Earth. He was accompanied at the Space Center by his children, Isabella, 9, and Connor, 7, who, he said "loved it . . . It had a really big impact on them." No stranger to thrill seeking (Cruise rock climbs, whitewater rafting, sky- and underwater dives as well as races cars and flies a Pitts Special S-2B stunt plane), he would also like to add "astronaut" to his resume. "I'd like to go to the space station," he said. "I admire what they do as astronauts, the commitment they have. They risk their lives. Wouldn't you go? I'd definitely go."