History YMMV / FromTheEarthToTheMoon

* RetroactiveRecognition: Is that Senator Mondale [[Series/MadMen Roger Sterling]]?

** On the other hand, the moonwalking sequences were universally awesome thanks to clever practical effects[[note]]Enormous helium balloons were attached to the actors' suits so they could bounce around at a fraction of their normal weight. The lighting effects were accomplished by rigging up enormous banks of the strongest stage lights available. The lights were so powerful, electricians working on them noted that their hair actually started smoking if they lingered too long[[/note]].

** Jethro Gibbs commanded the first manned Apollo mission to go into space.

* DesignatedVillain: A well-done, nuanced version in Senator Mondale, who initially seems to want to kill the moon landing just because it will score him political points. When he says that he doesn't really hate NASA, he just thinks the money being spent on it is a waste and could be better used ending poverty at home and a useless war abroad, it's tough to argue with him. (Though perhaps HarsherInHindsight in that maybe his wants were compelling, but within two years NASA had put a man on the moon, while spending on the programs he describes--hunger, poverty, etc.-long outdistanced NASA entire budget and its success rate has been substantially lower. Even ending the war in Vietnam turned out to be an exercise in failure.)

** The Mexican donation to the construction is called "a widow's mite". Two years after the novel was released, Mexican emperor Maximillen I was executed, with his wife outliving him by 60 years.

** The Mexican donation to the construction is called "a widow's mite". Two years after the novel was released, the Mexican emperor was executed, with his wife outliving him by 60 years.

** Jethro Gibbs commanded the first Apollo mission to go into space.

* SpecialEffectsFailure: Sure, they didn't have the budget of a feature film to spend, but the cgi used in the miniseries ranged from being amazing to downright laughable.

* CommonKnowledge: the cover of the first edition has what many people have since considered to be a Multi-stage rocket ship, however if one [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/From_the_Earth_to_the_Moon#/media/File%3AFrom_the_Earth_to_the_Moon_Jules_Verne.jpg looks closely]] the “rocket” In question is actually a space train with little embossed “first class”, “second class”, and “third class“ seating.

* VisualEffectsOfAwesome: The moonwalking sequences were universally awesome thanks to clever practical effects. Enormous helium balloons were attached to the actors' suits so they could bounce around at a fraction of their normal weight. The lighting effects were accomplished by rigging up enormous banks of the strongest stage lights available. The lights were so powerful, electricians working on them noted that their hair actually started smoking if they lingered too long.

** On the other hand, the moonwalking sequences were universally awesome thanks to clever practical effects.

* The Mexican donation to the construction is called "a widow's mite". Two years after the novel was released, the Mexican emperor was executed, with his wife outliving him by 60 years.
* HilariousInHindsight: Three brave men step into a capsule in Florida named Columbia, get launched to the moon, survive the trip and return safely to Earth, parachuting into the Pacific Ocean. Did I just describe this book, or the Apollo 11 moon landing?