Apollo 13 Movie Facts, Easter Eggs and hidden details

The zero-gravity scenes in Apollo 13 (1995) were filmed in NASA's "Vomit Comet" aircraft. By the end of filming, Tom Hanks, Bill Paxton, and Kevin Bacon had each amassed more "weightless time" than any astronaut in history.

Instead of using CGI or wires to get the effect of zero gravity, the filmmakers used a padded, windowless Boeing 707 which climbed up to 30,000 miles, giving them a 23 second time frame to shoot the scenes. The actors and crew did this about 40 times.

Jim Lovell wore his old Navy Captain's uniform in the scene where he greets the astronauts aboard the U.S.S. Iwo Jima. When Ron Howard asked Lovell if he'd like to be in the film as the ship's Admiral, Lovell agreed, but pointed out, "I retired as a Captain; a Captain I will be."

After the accident in Apollo 13 (1995), Houston instructs the astronauts to stop all urine dumps. The exchange sounds like filler, but in real life the situation caused Fred Haise to return to Earth with a serious urinary tract infection.

One comment card given to Ron Howard said that they had disdain for the film, as it was a "traditional Hollywood ending and in reality they would not have gotten home safely!"

As the astronauts prepare for re-entry, you can see a large tropical storm below them. This is because a tropical storm almost forced the Apollo 13 landing site to be changed, but the storm moved out of the area at the last moment.

While the crew is greeted on the aircraft carrier, Tom Hanks as Jim Lovell explains in voiceover what became of the major characters in later years. He saves himself for last and says "As for me..." at the precise moment when he shakes the real Jim Lovell's hand.

When Tom Hanks arrives aboard the aircraft carrier, he is greeted by the real Jim Lovell, the man Tom Hanks plays

The overhead projector machine breaks down. Flight Director Kranz doesn't waste any time trying to fix it, but instead comes up with a new plan to get the job done using only the resources on hand. This scene marks the beginning of the rescue effort.

She dreams the control panel in the spacecraft inaccurately (because she would not have known the correct layout and was dreaming), but in the "real" movie spacecraft, the panel is accurate to the actual Apollo cabin.

Tom Hanks' character says 'We've lost The Moon' whilst out of the window you can see The Moon move out of view

The zero-gravity scenes in Apollo 13 (1995) were filmed in NASA's "Vomit Comet" aircraft. By the end of filming, Tom Hanks, Bill Paxton, and Kevin Bacon had each amassed more "weightless time" than any astronaut in history.

When the first stage of the Saturn 5 is released, the center engine isn't glowing. This is accurate. As the rocket burns fuel, it gets lighter and accelerates harder. To reduce G forces, the center engine shuts down early.

- Tom Hanks (James Lovell) is slightly wide eyed with a smirk during lift off, while his crew is not. He was the only one of the crew to have flown before.

Tom Hanks plays astronaut Jim Lovell. The man saluting Hanks here is Jim Lovell himself. Ron Howard wanted Lovell to play an admiral, but since he retired a captain, that's the uniform he wears in this scene