Historical accuracy
The film is based on an amalgam of the flights detailed in Richard Holmes' 2013 book Falling Upwards: How We Took to the Air (ISBN 978-0-00-738692-5). The most significant balloon flight depicted in The Aeronauts is based on the 5 September 1862 flight of British aeronauts James Glaisher and Henry Coxwell whose coal gas-filled balloon broke the world flight altitude record, reaching 30,000 to 36,000 ft (9,000 to 11,000 m). However, while Glaisher appears in the film, Coxwell has been replaced by Amelia, a fictional character.
The real flight started from Wolverhampton on the site of the town gas works and ended in the Gorsebrook area of the town. The film moves the action to London.
A report in The Daily Telegraph quotes Keith Moore, Head of Library at the Royal Society, as saying, "It's a great shame that Henry [Coxwell] isn't portrayed because he performed very well and saved the life of a leading scientist". Moore then criticised the film's fictional female protagonist, stating “There were so many deserving female scientists of that period who haven't had films made about them. Why not do that instead?" In an interview with The List, Harper explained that whilst the film was inspired by a number of historical flights, the intention was never to make a documentary and he wanted the film to be reflective of a contemporary audience. He also commented on a gender bias in science, stating "There were female scientists around at the time, but not in the Royal Society... to this day, only eight per cent of the Royal Society is female."
Other critics of the film have praised Amelia as an important, aspirational female character. Sasha Stone of Awards Daily wrote that The Aeronauts "inspires young girls and nudges the perspectives of young boys... (revealing) that women can be just as excited about taking a hero's journey as any man can."
In addition to Coxwell, real-life individuals who compose Amelia's character include:
Sophie Blanchard, the first woman to work as a professional balloonist, who became a celebrated aeronaut following her husband's death. Felicity Jones has stated that Blanchard was the inspiration for her character.
Margaret Graham, a British aeronaut and entertainer.
Amelia's relationship with husband Pierre is chiefly based on Sophie Blanchard's flights with husband Jean-Pierre Blanchard, while Pierre's death is inspired by that of Thomas Harris on 25 May 1824.
The Latin motto inscribed on the side of the balloon Caelum certe patet, ibimus illi ("Surely the sky lies open to us, let us go that way") was used on a real balloon, albeit on a much earlier flight than the one depicted in the film. Its use is somewhat ironic, as the source of the quote, Book VIII of Ovid's Metamorphoses, relates the story of Icarus, who plunged to his death after flying too near the sun.
