Cool Space Ride @ Epcot: COMING SOON

[Madison]

Mission: Space has been under construction for 2 years.

It's not scheduled to open until about one month past Nationals. Traditionally, however, all new attractions will 'soft open' as a limited trial to see how the public reacts, how the crew acts, and how the ride performs. That is entirely hit or miss. It may or may not be open for Nats., but it most definitely won't be available for the Team Social, I think.

Originally posted by wysiswyg

Hmm.. the only way you can simulate weightlessness is with a big drop. It's probably going to resemble one of those big drop rides you see at a amusement park.

It isn't, and it's not.

A big drop doesn't simulate weightlessness. It simulates 1 g. - freefall. To simulate weightlessness during a fall, the object must be accelerated downward. Some rides do this already. Namely, Disney's Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, and S&S Power's Turbo Drop towers (1/2 of Dominator at Dorney Park, 2/4 of Power Tower at Cedar Point, Supreme Scream at Knott's Berry Farm).

Mission: Space isn't a drop tower. You can see pictures of the show building at www.wdwmagic.com . It's far too small to be a drop ride.

In fact, satellite photos taken of the construction site before the building was erected confirm that it's four centrifuge mechanisms.

How will the attraction work? Well, I can only share my best guest, knowing a teeny bit of physics, and how the Imagineers have worked in the past.

(It's Disney Imagineers, by the way, MattK. To call them anything else is a disservice to their wonderful craft. You have the Internet as an unlimited research tool. Use it, rather than relaying half-truths and malappropisms.)

The launch is easy. The centrifuge pod, which'll have on-board video will spin up, exerting positive force on riders. It'll happen quickly, and be sustained for a minute or more. I'm not entirely sure, honestly, if they'll simulate an *entire* launch sequence.

Weightlessness? Well, after spinning around in circles for a little while, each person will have some inertia, right? That inertia is going to make them want to continue moving in the same direction.

If the pod slows down at a rate that's commisserate with the inertia, it can approximate floating. It won't be true weightlessness, as you'll still be experiencing the 1g of gravity, but you will be floating, sort of 'laterally', if you can visualize it. It's not true weightlessness, of course, but a facsimile. Coupled with sensory deprivation, it could prove to be quite effective.