Goofs for Space Cowboys

                  Taken from www.imdb.com

Continuity: The shuttle's port wing markings change from "United
States" during reentry to the NASA "meatball" logo on landing.

Crew or equipment visible: Reflected in Frank's sunglasses when
talking to Hawk by his biplane.

Continuity: In front of the roller coaster, Jerry takes his
glasses off. However, the next shot of the back of his head shows
that he has his glasses on.

Factual Errors: Since the Earth has about one hundred times the
mass of the moon, one would have to travel more than halfway there
to be captured by the moon's gravitational field.

Factual Errors: When becoming aware the satellite has problems, it
is at 1000 miles. It is supposed to be sent back to geostationary
orbit (where it presumably came from) but that's more than 20,000
miles higher. That descent is inconsistent with the rate of
orbital decay presented in the movie. Also, the Space Shuttle
operates at orbits of at most a few hundred miles.

Continuity: As we see the Deadalus touching down on the KSC
runway, the hatch that was seen blown off a few scenes before is
clearly visible undamaged and closed.

Factual Errors: Once the Shuttle has reached orbit, there is a
beautiful shot of the earth rotating below the orbiter as it
passes between the camera and the sun. The problem with this shot,
though, is that the Shuttle is traveling in a clockwise orbit, not
the proper counter-clockwise orbit the Shuttle has to launch into.

Factual Errors: The X-2, as shown at the beginning of the movie,
was a single-seat aircraft, whose forward cockpit area was
designed into an escape-capsule system, as opposed to the ejector
seat shown.

Factual Errors: No sound is audible in space, however most of the
external "space shots" in this film have some sort of audible
sound.

Revealing mistakes: When Hawk is having his blood drawn, the
needle moves from his arm and it is apparent that there is a
flexible hose running off the side of his arm.

Factual Errors: While accounts differ, according to one reliable
witness, Sara says you can throw a baseball to the Moon from Earth
orbit. She should know that this is impossible; starting from low
orbit, it would have to be thrown at close to 7,000 mph to reach a
position where the Moon's gravity would capture it.

Plot holes: The brand-new space shuttle is named Daedalus, the
same name that Corvin's team had in 1958. If Corvin demanded this
naming along with the right to make the flight, we should have
seen him do it; but if not, then we should see him gloating or
Gerson complaining about the coincidence. Further, as there is no
famous ship of exploration named Daedalus, this name contravenes
standard naming policy.

Factual Errors: One does not leave earth orbit for the moon by
pointing at its current position and firing rockets. You must make
the burn parallel to the earth's surface on the side away from
where the moon will be when you arrive.

Factual Errors: The space shuttle always re-enters the atmosphere
bottom first. If it had re-entered nose first as depicted, it
would have burned up.

Plot holes: It takes considerably more delta-vee to soft-land on
the moon from earth orbit than it takes to escape earth entirely
and enter solar orbit. This could have been done by simply firing
the rockets in a horizontal orientation and in the orbital plane.
No piloting would be required after this point.

Plot holes: The chances of even a highly skilled aircraft pilot
manually navigating from earth orbit to a soft landing on the moon
are negligible. The physics are entirely different, and extensive
computer calculations are required.

Factual Errors: After liftoff, the roll program came too late.
They did the SRB (solid rocket boosters) separation, but failed to
perform SECO (secondary engine cut off) and MECO (main engine cut
off) before reaching orbit.

Incorrectly regarded as goofs: A geostationary equatorial orbit
would be the worst choice among commonly used orbits for a weapons
platform. The satellite always remains over one point on the
Earth, and the weapon would have to travel at least 22,000 miles
after firing, providing more time for it to be detected.  A low
polar orbit would provide a much shorter travel time for the
weapon, would pass over all parts of the Earth's surface twice a
day, and would also have been easier to reach from the USSR.
Which is exactly why the Soviets, wanting to put a weapons
platform *secretly* on a satellite, might choose one intended for
a geostationary equatorial orbit rather than a low polar orbit.

Incorrectly regarded as goofs: A nuclear weapon to be kept in a
low polar orbit could be designed with only a small retrorocket
and a heat shield, but since the satellite would pass near a
particular target only twice a day, it might take many hours
before it could be launched. Large rocket motors like an ICBM's,
as depicted in the film, would be militarily sensible since
targeting would be much more flexible and the weapon's travel time
after launch would also be shorter. And with the weapon in a high
orbit, as indicated in the film, large rockets would be required
to reach the surface at all.

Incorrectly regarded as goofs: Current space shuttles cannot reach
an equatorial orbit from Florida, but the film depicts a new
shuttle. Perhaps it is lighter and/or its rockets are more
powerful, and it can reach the desired orbit.

Factual Errors: At landing, jet engine turbines can be heard
winding-down. The Shuttle does not use jet turbine engines and
more importantly, glides un-powered, using a series of "S" turns
to decrease its speed before landing.

Continuity: When Frank Corvin is approaching the satellite, he
closes the "shield" on his helmet that protects his eyes from
being burned by the sun. In the next shot, it is open again.
















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