The Reluctant Astronaut is a 1967 American comedy film produced and directed by Edward Montagne and starring Don Knotts in a story about a carnival ride operator who is hired as a janitor at the Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston and is eventually sent into space.

When Buck and his pals make a surprise visit to Houston, Roy dons Gifford's space suit in an effort to fool his domineering father.

The ruse fails after Roy wreaks havoc on NASA's equipment, ultimately resulting in his termination after an unauthorized rocket sled ride.

He remembers the retro rockets speech from his role as "Mr. Spaceman" on the amusement park ride and launches them, bringing the capsule safely home.

Although the majority of The Reluctant Astronaut was photographed at Universal Studios, Stage 30, location shooting at Johnson and Kennedy Space Centers, along with stock footage of real spacecraft was spliced into the film.

According to Knotts' 1998 autobiography, the tragic Apollo 1 fire led to Universal Pictures being skeptical about releasing a comedy on space travel so soon after the tragedy.