Trivia

This 1956 release takes place on the 13th moon of Jupiter. In real life, Jupiter's 13th moon was discovered in 1974.

The rocket launch used in this film is actually a V-2 rocket that was confiscated by the United States after the Germans were defeated in World War II. The launch took place at the White Sands test range in New Mexico around 1946. It has been used in a number of other 1950s era science fiction films.

The exterior establishing shots of the Astronomical Station prominently feature the distinctive clock tower of the administration block at MGM Borehamwood, since demolished.

The budget for this "science-fiction" film could not have been smaller. There are no space suits, nor exotic looking locations. There is no original music written for it. The most advanced piece of equipment is a Polaroid camera. The spaceship in flight is stock footage of the V2 rocket (albeit better used in this picture than any of its contemporaries). The interiors of the moon kingdom are full of curtains and columns, the old standby for alien interiors in B-pictures, which were usually sets borrowed from more expensive Greek/Roman films or property rental firms.

Susan Shaw died penniless in 1978 from liver cirrhosis. She was only 49. She had turned to heavy drinking after her husband Bonar Colleano died in a car accident in 1958.