They filmed the opening speech at the spaceport in NM; I was an extra

That speech at the beginning that Gary Oldman gives about wanting to go to Mars and introducing the astronauts that's only a few minutes long in the movie took, thanks to different camera angles they needed and the like, the WHOLE DAY to film (plus they cut out stuff like him driving a Mars buggy out onstage to show the equipment).

I was an extra in the audience (you can see my bald-spot on the far right of the screen a few times lol, and me running out with the crowd to look at the rocket). Filmed at the Spaceport in Truth or Consequences, NM (that curvy building Gary walks away from a little later). Richard Branson built it with the promise of sending people into sub-orbital space tourism flights, but nothing happened and it just became a tax drain on the county. At least they used it for a movie (though it's not mentioned in the closing credits, maybe security concerns). Fun day; like your own personal Gary Oldman performance!