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 |  | Mission: SPACE Attraction Continues After the Ride
By Jim Banke
Senior Producer,
Cape Canaveral Bureau
posted: 07:00 am ET
04 August 2003
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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Culled from several Walt Disney World news releases, here is some more information about the Mission: SPACE attraction set to open to the public on Aug. 15.
By the Numbers
- It took more than 650 Walt Disney Imagineers more than 350,000 hours over five years to work on developing Mission: SPACE.
- The 29 missions that the United States and the Soviet Union sent to the moon between 1959 and 1976 are all noted on the moon sphere in the Planetary Plaza of Mission: SPACE.
- Nearly 100 shades of red were mocked up before Imagineers decided on the color of the red planet that dominates the dramatic façade of Mission: SPACE.
- Jupiter is the biggest celestial body in the Planetary Plaza of Mission: SPACE at 16 feet in diameter. Earth is 10 feet in diameter and the moon is 12 feet in diameter. As they exist in our galaxy, Earth is 7,926 miles in diameter; the moon is 2,160 miles in diameter and Jupiter is 88,700 miles in diameter.
- It would take 13,136,640 jellybeans to fill the Earth sphere in Planetary Plaza; 22,702,080 to fill the moon sphere and 53,809,920 to fill the Jupiter sphere.
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| The mission patch for Disney's new Mission: SPACE attraction at Epcot.
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| The Mission: SPACE experience at Disney includes a chance to play the role of Mission Controller.
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| Younger visitors to Disney's new Mission: SPACE at Epcot can enjoy this space-themed play area.
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After the Ride
Following the four-minute thrill ride to the Red Planet, visitors to Mission: SPACE enter the "Advanced Training Lab," where they can spend as much time as they want enjoying these activities:
- Mission Space Race -- In this high-energy Mission Control training exercise, guests work as a team to overcome obstacles and challenges that might be encountered on a mission. Throughout the game, two teams race against time. Approximately 50 to 60 players, per race, can join in the game. Space Race was patterned on NASA's integrated mission simulation training.
- Space Base -- A three-story, rocket-and-gantry-themed play area is ideal for younger cadets who aren't ready to be blasted into orbit. Junior astronauts can climb the gantry, crawl thru a rocket, check out a lookout tower and enjoy other mini challenges. The kid-friendly launch station features Mission Control audio messages, a "bouncy" floor sprinkled with colorful space dust, zany mirrors and fun-filled outer space backdrops.
- Expedition: Mars -- Using a joystick and jetpack button, guests test their skills on a mission to rescue their fellow astronauts in a high-tech simulation game. Martian obstacles like dust devils, quicksand and polar ice make the rescue mission a challenge for guests of all skill levels.
- Postcards from Space -- Guests can create a video postcard from outer space -- choosing from among eight space-themed backgrounds -- and e-mail the postcard to friends anywhere in the world. Guests can record a personal video message from space with scenarios that put them in the middle of an alien abduction, a saucer invasion or life on Mars. Fun facts about the galaxies test guests' knowledge of the universe.
- Mission: SPACE Cargo Bay -- A four-foot-high, 3-D portrayal of Mickey Mouse outfitted in an astronaut space suit with one foot planted on Mars beckons guests into the 1,500-square-foot retail space. Astronaut-inspired gear and supplies are displayed beneath a 12-foot mural featuring Astronauts Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Goofy and Donald on the surface of Mars with the X-2 shuttle streaking across the stars.
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