The making of In Event of Moon Disaster involved a lot of re-edited nonfiction footage.

Panetta and Burgund drew on archival NASA film along with news footage and clips of TV anchor Walter Cronkite. The result was an alternative account of the Apollo 11 launch and flight of the spacecraft.

The mode of presentation is designed to seem at once authoritative and authentic, bringing the viewer into a frantic, “real-time” account of the disaster.