According to Knotts' 1998 autobiography, the infamous Apollo 1 fire occurred and killed three astronauts shortly after the film's scenes at Kennedy Space Center were shot.
•
The Reluctant Astronaut was a popular children's film during the Apollo program, and was frequently shown on weekend afternoons.
•
Comedian Knotts won several Emmy Awards as small-town comic sheriff's deputy Barney Fife in the 1960-1968 television sitcom The Andy Griffith Show but left the show as a regular at the end of its fifth season (1964–1965) to pursue a career in feature films with Universal Pictures.
astronaut | Astronaut | David Wolf (astronaut) | Mark Kelly (astronaut) | The Reluctant Astronaut | John Young (astronaut) | The Reluctant Saint | The Reluctant Debutante | NASA Astronaut Group 20 | NASA Astronaut Group 2 | NASA Astronaut Group 16 | NASA Astronaut Corps | Max Q (Astronaut band) | Max Q (astronaut band) | Liu Boming (astronaut) | James Dutton (astronaut) | German astronaut team | European Astronaut Corps | Chief of the Astronaut Office |