This film shows the first countdown to the launch of a rocket - not just the first one in a movie, but the first ever. It was invented as a dramatic device for the movie. Previously, all launches were begun with a count upward from zero to a designated number (usually ten). Also depicted for the first time are the use of liquid rocket fuel, a rocket with two stages, and zero gravity in space.
When the Nazis began working on war rockets, they decided the movie's rockets were too close to the truth. To preserve secrecy, they had the models destroyed and the film withdrawn from release.
German rocket scientist Hermann Oberth was hired by the studio to create a flying model of the Friede (the rocket in the movie) to launch from northern Germany on the day of the release as a publicity stunt. However, Oberth pulled out of the deal because the rocket was not working, and undue pressure from the director was causing too many frayed nerves.
Was restored in 2000 by the Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau Foundation from negatives belonging to the Bundesarchiv-Filmarchiv in Berlin.
German physicist Hermann Oberth was hired by Fritz Lang as a technical advisor for this film. Oberth later worked on the V-2 rocket program and was the mentor of Wernher von Braun. After World War II, Oberth followed Braun to the United States where he participated in rocket experiments for many years. Braun later hired Oberth as technical consultant for NASA's Atlas rocket.
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