Factual error: In the beginning scene involving the U.S. spacecraft, as the front door on the unidentified ship starts to close around the U.S. capsule you can see the reflection of red light across the hull of the captor's ship. Where is this light coming from? It can't be from the sun, because sunlight only appears white to our eyes. (00:03:10)
Factual error: Two rocket lift-offs are shown. For the American lift-off, they show an Atlas-Agena (American) rocket booster but for the Soviet lift-off, they show a Gemini-Titan (also American) rocket booster. Compounding the mixup is that the film's Jupiter capsules are basically just Gemini craft, which are seen atop what the film presents as the Russian rocket.
Factual error: In the scene where the ninjas are attacking the volcano, they are armed with rocket guns. While the rocket guns, MBA Gyrojet Rocket Carbines, are real, their 13mm rocket cartridges could barely beat out a .45 ACP pistol cartridge in stopping power, not to mention they couldn't cause huge explosions like they did in the movie.
Factual error: When the Russian capsule is launched, a palm tree can be seen - and it's doubtful that the Russian climate could accommodate palm trees.
Factual error: The picture of Ning-Po taken by the American tourist is nowhere near sharp enough - or high enough resolution - for it to be enlarged sufficiently for the ship's name to be legible.
Factual error: When Bond enters the Sumo game, the writing above the door reads, "Beauty Parlour" in Japanese.
Factual error: When the Russians launch their ship, they are talking about Sputnik. In Russian, the technician says that it is 36 degrees while the English subtitle reads 72 degrees, which is not accurate. 36°C is 96.8°F.
Factual error: When Bird 1 is launched, both in the cave and outside, the exhaust plume and smoke trail is pitifully small compared to the plume of a real rocket.
Factual error: The room where Bond cracks the safe to steal some documents, there is a solid automatic door to enter the room. However right next to it, the wall is thin as paper (Japanese Shoji paper). It makes no sense to put a safe in a room like this or secure it with such a solid door when burglars just can walk through the walls. It's not armored milk glass or similar - during Bond's fight with the Japanese driver he already smashed one of these "walls" inside the room.
Factual error: When 007 is briefed inside the submarine, there would be no space available to have spacious offices, wooden desks, and book shelves. Most of the space within a sub would be taken up by the equipment necessary for it to function. In addition, such features (desks, chairs, etc.) would add a considerable amount of weight and be difficult to get inside in the sub in the first place.
Factual error: At the dock where Bond and Aki are investigating the Ning-Po, there are cylinders labeled as containing turpentine made by Osato Chemical, but which Bond figures out are really filled with liquid oxygen (LOX), presumably to be incorporated with rocket fuel in SPECTRE's mischievous meddling with other nations' spacecraft. To keep the LOX inside cold and liquid, the container needs to slowly vent oxygen to carry away heat which is constantly entering from outside. This venting would be visible as a stream of water vapor exiting a port, such as what's commonly seen leaking from the sides of rockets which are waiting on their launch pads. There is no such venting, which means the LOX inside will no longer be LOX by the time it gets to where it's going.
Factual error: When Bond is hiding on the monorail cart, it stops at the astronauts' quarters. After Bond gets out of the cart, a second cart passes by, even though the cart he arrived in is still on the track (out of shot). No one moved the cart before the second cart passed through.
