The movie can be seen as a coda to the creation of the American space program in the 1960s and the subsequent rise of the space shuttle program and its two space station programs during the 1990s and 2000s. The film was shot over a period of five years as well as five months and it was partly shot on locations in Europe and North America including on the International Space Station and also on the grounds of the space center in Russia. It was directed by James Cameron and co-produced by David A