Parts of Enterprise's hull had to be specially built for this episode but were discarded afterwards. "We had to throw the pieces away," reflected Production Designer Herman F. Zimmerman, "we just didn't have any room to store them, they were so large!"
Reed's problem of needing to 'go to the bathroom' in his spacesuit was possibly a nod to Alan Shepard, one of the astronauts who features in the credits montage. Shepard had the same problem as he was waiting to be launched into space (according to Tom Wolfe's novel 'The Right Stuff').
After receiving the injection of pain-killer, Reed says to Archer, "Please sir, may I have some more." This is a quote from Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens.
"V070-39-89761-1034, MN-HULL" is visible on the Enterprise hull plating. The Rockwell drawings for the Space Shuttle all start with V070, and it's likely the drawing number for a shuttle tile.
This is the second instance of Malcolm needing the bathroom at an inconvenient time. The first was in Terra Nova (2001) where he was shot and held captive by the Novans.