20 Things You Didn’t Know About Moonraker (1979)
10. “I’d Heard That Hugo Drax Is Obsessed With The Conquest Of Space.”
Moonraker was meant to coincide with the launch of NASA’s first space shuttle orbiter, Columbia. However, many of Columbia’s ceramic heat shield tiles had to be replaced, delaying its maiden launch by two years and unintentionally making Moonraker a work of science fiction rather than science fact.
As no visual reference existed for the shuttle’s performance, scientific expert, Eric Burgess and former NASA conceptual designer, Harry Lange assisted the crew with the film’s space-based scenes.
Derek Meddings and his team used bottle rockets and signal flares to simulate the launch of the space shuttles. Salt was filmed pouring out behind them in slow motion to represent the magnificent smoke trail that they left.
Meddings and visual effects art director, Peter Lamont erected a black backing on the 007 Stage and punched holes in it, allowing light to poke through to create the illusion of luminous stars shining in the deepest reaches of space.
Camera trickery was also used whilst filming the miniatures of Drax’s Moonraker space shuttles in their launching bays. The Moonrakers were filmed in the foreground, whilst footage of their ground crews was shot in the background on a section of road built on the 007 Stage.