The film is an adaptation of the short story "Icarus Montgolfier Wright" (1956) by Ray Bradbury (1920-2012). The story predicted that humanity would fly to the moon by 1970, and explained the historical steps towards that goal.
Icarus is a character from Greek mythology, the son of the master craftsman Daedalus. Daedalus was supposedly imprisoned by his own employer Minos, King of Crete. He created artificial wings (made of birth feathers and wax) for himself and his son, which would allow them to escape Crete. Daedalus survived their initial flight, but Icarus was killed in an aviation accident.
Joseph-Michel Montgolfier (1740-1810) and Jacques-Etienne Montgolfier (1745-1799) were French inventors and aviation pioneers. They created the Montgolfière-style hot air balloon. In 1783, they performed a series of flight demonstrations with their air balloons. On 15, October, 1783, Etienne became the first human to lift off the Earth. when he piloted a test flight.
Wilbur Wright (1867-1912) and Orville Wright (1871-1948) were American inventors and aviation pioneers. They are credited with inventing, building, and flying the world's first successful airplane. On December 17, 1903, their "Wright Flyer" performed the first successful flight of a powered, heavier-than-air aircraft.
The Wright brothers were not the only aviation pioneers of the late 19th and early 20th century to experiment with airplane designs. However, their three-axis control system provided a way to successfully steer the airplane, resolving a problem that had plagued previous efforts.