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Factual error: Mission control begins an auto-landing sequence for the shuttle, but mission control did not have an ability to remote pilot the shuttle when the movie was made and wouldn't get it until 2006.

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Factual error: K sees the constellation Orion in the night sky above New York City, but the film takes place in July, and Orion is a winter constellation in the Northern Hemisphere, meaning it wouldn't be visible during the summer.

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Factual error: Neil Armstrong's first step onto the moon as depicted in this film is incorrect. In real life he descended the LM ladder until he was standing on top of the little dish at the end of the landing leg. He then jumped back onto the ladder (the lower rung of which was a few feet up) to see if he could climb back up. He then jumped back down to the LM footpad. Then he stepped off into the dust to create the first footprint on the moon. The film shows him climbing down to the lower rung of the ladder, then just jumping into the dust where the initial footprint is immediately trampled by his movements.

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Factual error: Several references are made to objects being on the dark side of the moon. The moon's rotation is locked into its orbit, meaning the same side of the moon always faces toward Earth. The dark side is simply the side facing away from Earth (which doesn't always make it dark since it receives sunlight when the moon is between Earth and the sun). For plot purposes, the Ark has to have landed on the dark side of the moon or else it would be visible using Earth telescopes because it is so big. But when we see Decepticons hidden on the dark side of the moon crawl out of the dust, Earth is floating in the background, which would be impossible since Earth is not visible from the dark side of the moon.

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Factual error: Hanks as Lovell drives a red corvette. The real Lovell has said in interviews he drove a blue corvette.

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