Space Shuttles in Moonraker?

Railer 505

You guys all know that Moonraker heavily focused on outer space, and to get to the space station, shuttles very similar to NASA's space shuttle program were used. This is also the case for the beginning of the movie when the shuttle was hijacked from the Boeing 747.

Now you also may know that the space shuttle program did not begin until 1981, and this movie was filmed in 1978. Yes, the prototype Enterprise first flew in 1977 but I still find it hard to believe that EON productions knew so much about it as to incorporate it into this film.

emtiem

Why's it hard to believe if the design had been public for so long beforehand?

Hardyboy

It's also very well known that EON consulted with NASA during the making of the film--to such an extent that Cubby Broccoli bragged that Moonraker was "science fact, not science fiction" (yeah, right). Broccoli had thought that the movie would coincide with the launch of the shuttle program, but delays kept the shuttle from flying until 1981.