NASA shows this film during their management training program. New managers are given the task of trying to spot as many errors as possible. At least 168 have been found.
Regarding the film's premise, Ben Affleck asked director Michael Bay, "Wouldn't it be easier for NASA to train astronauts how to drill rather than training drillers to be astronauts?" Bay told Affleck to shut up. The reasoning behind sending drillers, rather than training astronauts, is explained in the movie.
Because of the patriotic nature of the script, and the success of using Top Gun (1986) starring Tom Cruise as recruitment material, the producers persuaded NASA to allow director Michael Bay and company to shoot in the normally restricted space agency. This included the neutral buoyancy lab, a 65 million-gallon, 40 foot-deep pool used to train astronauts for weightlessness, and the use of two $10 million space suits. The crew was also allowed to shoot in the historic launch pad that went out of service after the Apollo 1 disaster, and parts of the movie were filmed at Edwards Air Force Base in California.
Bruce Willis has said that he did not care for Michael Bay's directing style, and he refuses to work with him again.
Rockhound's line about sitting on a million pounds of fuel in a rocket built by the lowest bidder is a variation of an actual radio transmission by Mercury astronaut Alan Shepard, just prior to lift-off.
Shannon Lucid: The astronaut who made headlines for setting endurance records for living in space aboard the Mir Space Station is in the background of the "underwater simulation" scenes.