The Series Has Landed reference to the moon from the 1902 French silent film "A Trip to the Moon". Bender impales Crater Face in the eye with his beer bottle after Crater Face attempts to confiscate his alcohol, which is another reference to the film as the astronomers' capsule (which resembles a bottle) hitting the moon's eye when it crashes. The title of the episode itself is a reference to the quote "The Eagle has landed" said by astronaut Neil Armstrong when he and Buzz Aldrin touched down on the Moon during the Apollo 11 mission. Fry nearly makes a reference to Neil Armstrong's
The First Men in the Moon (2010 film) they worked together to build a cast iron sphere that would fly them to the Moon. After landing on the lunar surface and discovering its oxygen atmosphere is frozen into the surface and released in direct sunlight, the two explorers are captured with nets and taken underground by the Moon's inhabitants (whom Cavor names Selenites). Upon their revival, Cavor and Bedford are fed and try to communicate with the moon creatures, but to no avail. They are prodded with long poles toward a lunar abyss. They find themselves in a perilous state after Bedford reacts and accidentally kills several Selenites