SEBASTIAN SHAKESPEARE: How Tom Cruise secretly trained with NASA to become an astronaut on doomed 2003 Columbia space shuttle mission 

Playing an astronaut in the blockbuster Oblivion didn't satisfy Tom Cruise's outer-space ambitions.

The star wanted to join the crew of the US Space Shuttle Columbia, which crashed killing all on board.

Cruise was given secret training by NASA and planned to join the Space Shuttle crew.

Playing an astronaut in the blockbuster Oblivion didn't satisfy Tom Cruise's (pictured) outer-space ambitions

In return for going into space, Cruise voiced a 3D Imax film, Space Station, for NASA - and helped 'fix' their website.

Toni Myers, director of Space Station, says: 'Tom wanted to be an astronaut, he flies his own GulfStream IV Jet and he's quite qualified as a pilot.

'He was very enthusiastic about doing Space Station 3D but the deal was he also wanted to fly in the Space Shuttle.'

Cruise was given an induction course by Nasa in Florida and taught how to replicate walking in a space suit by wading in a water tank.

Myers recalls: 'He had a very good chance of doing so but then the accident happened and that was the end of that.'

All seven crew members died when the Columbia shuttle exploded in 2003.

Myers's new Imax spectacular, A Beautiful Planet, voiced by Jennifer Lawrence, opens tomorrow.

The Oscar-winner is upstaged by Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoferetti, who filmed stunning scenes of the earth with a digital camera from the International Space Station.

'When Jennifer saw the rough cut, she said: 'My goodness, Samantha's the star of the movie. She's fantastic, I want to meet her.' They had a good chat at the New York premiere.' 

Dressed like a teen, Jude Law and new love

When philandering film star Jude Law hit his 40s, he declared: ‘You’ve got to let go of vanity. I’m not up for the part of 20-year-olds, thank God. That would be embarrassing.’

But The Talented Mr Ripley star’s outfit told a very different tale when he stepped out in London this week for a cinema date with his latest girlfriend, business psychologist Phillipa Coan, 30.

Jude Law's outfit turned heads when he stepped out in London this week for a cinema date with his latest girlfriend, business psychologist Phillipa Coan, 30

The actor, 43, teamed a pair of 'drop-crotch' tracksuit bottoms with a tight, grey, long-sleeved top and Hender Scheme trainers, which cost £740 and are trendy among very well-heeled teenagers

Law wore a pair of grey ‘drop-crotch’ tracksuit bottoms, a style made popular by teeny- boppers such as singer Justin Bieber. 

The actor, 43, teamed them with a tight, grey, long-sleeved top and Hender Scheme trainers, which cost £740 and are trendy among very well-heeled teenagers.

Springwatch presenter Chris Packham is something of a heart-throb to certain viewers, but his admirers ought to know he’s a slob off screen.

‘At home, I’m really, really scruffy,’ admits the 55-year-old naturalist, who’s courting Isle of Wight Zoo owner Charlotte Corney. ‘I wear the same T-shirts, trousers and shorts for weeks on end. Once my partner got so fed up, she burnt a pair of shorts that I’d been wearing.’

His sister, Jenny Packham — the Duchess of Cambridge’s favourite fashion designer — must be appalled.

Catwalk ban for Air's girl

Donna Air's modelling career began at the age of ten before she went on to star in children’s TV series Byker Grove. She has, though, banned her 12-year-old daughter, Freya, from following in her dainty footsteps.

‘Freya’s been scouted by a modelling agency, but we’re not in any hurry to go down that road,’ she tells me at the Cointreau Creative Crew Awards.

‘She’s nicely tucked away and at school, which I think is right for a girl her age. I want her to focus on getting through school and her exams. Modelling can wait.’

Donna Air has banned her 12-year-old daughter, Freya (pictured together), from following in her dainty footsteps into the modelling industry

Freya, whose father is zoo owner Damian Aspinall, can look forward to a summer holiday on the Continent with her mother. ‘Us mummies live for those mother-daughter holidays,’ says Donna, 36, pictured with Freya.

She declines to discuss her boyfriend, the Duchess of Cambridge’s brother James Middleton, from whom she is taking a ‘relationship sabbatical’. Whatever that means. 

Has Strictly Come Dancing’s Brendan Cole got something to hide? The Kiwi hoofer is not thrilled about the BBC revealing top stars’ wages. 

‘I’m a bit concerned about the plans to publish people’s pay,’ Cole tells me at Chelsea Flower Show. 

‘I don’t know what to make of people knowing what you earn.’ Only staffers paid over £450,000 a year will be named, so Cole must be dancing all the way to the bank.