The spaceship model was later used as a background set decoration in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982).
When Rosemary Clooney is seen on the space station's big screen singing the song "Ali Baba," it was taken from the 1953 Paramount release "Here Comes the Girls."
The spaceship design was taken from Wernher von Braun's actual designs that appeared in a 1954 issue of Collier's.
General Merritt's opinions on Man's 'trespass' into space was actually a reflection of a real-life movement. In the 1950s there were those who claimed that the heavens were God's domain and that humans would be committing blasphemy by engaging in space travel. Although real, the movement was never very widespread and once actual space travel began it was quickly drowned out by the public enthusiasm for the space race.
After a dispute over how to depict the surface of Mars, Chesley Bonestell claimed never to have seen the final movie.