Just after the video call with Tulsa, Gardner is watching a movie left by one of the German scientists. That movie is "Wings of Desire." "Wings of Desire" was remade in the US as a Nicolas Cage / Meg Ryan movie: "City of Angels"
The background music heard throughout the film borrows heavily from the symphonic Gustav Holst composition Mars the Bringer of War, part of The Planets suite.
Britt Robertson (Tulsa) is seven years older than Asa Butterfield (Gardner) even though they play characters of about the same age in the movie.
The original title of The Space Between Us was Out of This World.
The welcome crew on earth is wearing full-face snorkle masks, without the breather plugged in the top.