 It was the first movie to feature the modern space shuttle in a  motion picture. The films release was suppose to coincide with the  first ever launch of the space shuttle, but this unfortunately  didnt occur until 12 April 1981, just before the release of the  next James Bond movie, _For Your Eyes Only (1981)_ (qv), and exactly  twenty years after Yuri Gagarin was the first man in space (12 April  1961).