With apologies to anyone who may have seen this elsewhere, we have recently had a 'sneak peek' of the new, $60million Shuttle Launch Experience at the Kennedy Space Center, and we just thought we wanted to let as many people as possible know how special this looks like being. Here are my initial thoughts:
Susan and I are just back from a quick Brit's Guide up-date tour of the Kennedy Space Center, the highlight of which was a look around the whole Shuttle Launch Experience, although it is not fully operational yet.
We were able to go 'behind the scenes' as they are putting the finishing touches to it (the ride officially opens on May 25), and it is a magnificently impressive new attraction.
We walked in via the clever entrance 'gantry' which serves as the long walkway up to the building itself (complete with plaques depicting some of the major achievements of the shuttle programme, and then some monitors showing special interviews with various astronauts, recalling their throughts as they sat on the launch pad - which vary from the mission-focused to the more nervous!).
You then enter a big hall which includes a fab pre-show for all the astronaut 'trainees' who have just come through the doors (2.5 years of learning in 5 minutes!!). With a series of big video screens, plus moody lighting effects and two giant mechanical arms, Charlie Bolden (Hall of Fame astronaut and veteran Shuttle commander) introduces the SLE and lets you know what you're in for, with a 2-minute insight into the launch preparations and countdown, culminating in a fantastic sight-and-sound extravaganza of the launch itself. The video is all close-ups of actual NASA footage of various shuttle launches, complete with dry ice (for 'smoke'), the monumental sound and accompanied by what they call 'butt-kickers' in the floor so your legs 'feel' the launch vibrations, too.
With the launch preview over, the big doors open and you go through to the Clean Room for final launch preparations. If you have ever been into the pre-ride areas for both Star Tours and Mission Space you will have a bit of an idea of what to expect here as you enter into a huge room full of technical details and real 'space programme' orientation, with the actual ride controllers in a booth in front of you (along with dozens of video screens) and the four space shuttle 'capsules' to either side. The visual effect alone is stunning, and you are really beginning to get excited at this stage.
After a final briefing, you line up on your appropriate marks on the floor and the doors to the capsules open (they are built to represent a real-scale unit travelling in the cargo bay of the shuttle). The seats are impressive and the inside of the capsule (which holds 44 passengers) has a really authentic feel, with big, padded seats, roll bars and seatbelts. You can see the inside 'doors' of the cargo bay above you, and there are various video screens at the front, and a 'window' into the cockpit of the shuttle.
Now, sadly we didn't get to experience the ride itself as it was not in test mode today (although it has been tested thoroughly, and may even be ready for a 'soft' opening in the next week or so), but we did get talked through the whole experience, and it sounds like it will be one of THE great ride attractions in central Florida. Unlike most simulator rides, which stay pretty much on the same level and just move either backwards or forwards and side to side, this will be a far more sensory affair, with the whole capsule tilting through almost 90 degrees so you are practically on your back (as you would be in the real thing) for the launch.
The final countdown begins: "In 10, 9, 8, 7, Go for engine start"....(big vibrations and a blaring roar over the cabin speakers as the main engines ignite)..."We have main engine start; 2, 1...." And then everything will begin to shake as the twin Solid Rocket Boosters ignite, the cabin leans backwards as the vibration generators engage, and the passengers sink right back into the seats.
"We have booster ignition and liftoff of the Space Shuttle." And then the fun really starts, with the enormous vibrations and sounds of the simulated launch. These continue for the first minute and then you experience the Boosters dropping off, followed by Max Q - the zone of maximum physical force on the shuttle. That is followed by the main engine cut-off, the External Tank separation, and, lo and behold!, you will be in space, with the vehicle levelling out again and the (brief) sensation of weightlessness as you enter zero gravity.
If all that doesn't get to you, wait for the big pay-off - as the cargo doors slowly open to reveal your shuttle in full earth orbit above the Mediterranean (over Italy, actually), and then another minute of real space flight. It should be an utterly stunning effect.
Finally, 12 minutes after entering for your Simulation Briefing, you will exit the capsule and 'walk' back to earth down a huge, spiral walkway, surrounded by the 'stars' over more space views of earth. The whole room is filled with some of the most moving and apt music you will ever hear, and the walkway is lined with plaques for every shuttle mission to date, including special reminders of the two tragic missions, of Challenger in 1986 and Columbia in 2003.
It is a breathtaking and totally emotional 'journey', with the whole thing created in such vivid and realistic detail, you will be amazed (I think) at how much genuine insight you will have into a real launch and space flight. Even the gift shop at the end is one of the smartest and most enticing we have seen, so have your wallets ready for some truly one-of-a-kind gifts and souvenirs!
In all my 20 years or so of viewing these kinds of attractions and previewing the latest arrivals, this is far and away the most exciting and stimulating ride that I have seen. It should be an absolute triumph of both the designer's art and the 'real deal' of space travel. Everything about it is credible and genuinely astronaut tested, and it creates an absolute spine-tingling storm of anticipation.
The ride itself should also be neither too scary for those who worry about simulators nor too tame for thrill-ride buffs; it will not be aggressively dynamic (like Mission Space) and it will not make people feel ill! It will not have the science fiction element of the fantastic (like Star Tours), but the fact this is a genuine recreation of what we can usually only see (from a distance or on TV) should place this among Florida's absolutely pre-eminent attractions.
Miss it at your peril!!
Susan and I are just back from a quick Brit's Guide up-date tour of the Kennedy Space Center, the highlight of which was a look around the whole Shuttle Launch Experience, although it is not fully operational yet.
We were able to go 'behind the scenes' as they are putting the finishing touches to it (the ride officially opens on May 25), and it is a magnificently impressive new attraction.
We walked in via the clever entrance 'gantry' which serves as the long walkway up to the building itself (complete with plaques depicting some of the major achievements of the shuttle programme, and then some monitors showing special interviews with various astronauts, recalling their throughts as they sat on the launch pad - which vary from the mission-focused to the more nervous!).
You then enter a big hall which includes a fab pre-show for all the astronaut 'trainees' who have just come through the doors (2.5 years of learning in 5 minutes!!). With a series of big video screens, plus moody lighting effects and two giant mechanical arms, Charlie Bolden (Hall of Fame astronaut and veteran Shuttle commander) introduces the SLE and lets you know what you're in for, with a 2-minute insight into the launch preparations and countdown, culminating in a fantastic sight-and-sound extravaganza of the launch itself. The video is all close-ups of actual NASA footage of various shuttle launches, complete with dry ice (for 'smoke'), the monumental sound and accompanied by what they call 'butt-kickers' in the floor so your legs 'feel' the launch vibrations, too.
With the launch preview over, the big doors open and you go through to the Clean Room for final launch preparations. If you have ever been into the pre-ride areas for both Star Tours and Mission Space you will have a bit of an idea of what to expect here as you enter into a huge room full of technical details and real 'space programme' orientation, with the actual ride controllers in a booth in front of you (along with dozens of video screens) and the four space shuttle 'capsules' to either side. The visual effect alone is stunning, and you are really beginning to get excited at this stage.
After a final briefing, you line up on your appropriate marks on the floor and the doors to the capsules open (they are built to represent a real-scale unit travelling in the cargo bay of the shuttle). The seats are impressive and the inside of the capsule (which holds 44 passengers) has a really authentic feel, with big, padded seats, roll bars and seatbelts. You can see the inside 'doors' of the cargo bay above you, and there are various video screens at the front, and a 'window' into the cockpit of the shuttle.
Now, sadly we didn't get to experience the ride itself as it was not in test mode today (although it has been tested thoroughly, and may even be ready for a 'soft' opening in the next week or so), but we did get talked through the whole experience, and it sounds like it will be one of THE great ride attractions in central Florida. Unlike most simulator rides, which stay pretty much on the same level and just move either backwards or forwards and side to side, this will be a far more sensory affair, with the whole capsule tilting through almost 90 degrees so you are practically on your back (as you would be in the real thing) for the launch.
The final countdown begins: "In 10, 9, 8, 7, Go for engine start"....(big vibrations and a blaring roar over the cabin speakers as the main engines ignite)..."We have main engine start; 2, 1...." And then everything will begin to shake as the twin Solid Rocket Boosters ignite, the cabin leans backwards as the vibration generators engage, and the passengers sink right back into the seats.
"We have booster ignition and liftoff of the Space Shuttle." And then the fun really starts, with the enormous vibrations and sounds of the simulated launch. These continue for the first minute and then you experience the Boosters dropping off, followed by Max Q - the zone of maximum physical force on the shuttle. That is followed by the main engine cut-off, the External Tank separation, and, lo and behold!, you will be in space, with the vehicle levelling out again and the (brief) sensation of weightlessness as you enter zero gravity.
If all that doesn't get to you, wait for the big pay-off - as the cargo doors slowly open to reveal your shuttle in full earth orbit above the Mediterranean (over Italy, actually), and then another minute of real space flight. It should be an utterly stunning effect.
Finally, 12 minutes after entering for your Simulation Briefing, you will exit the capsule and 'walk' back to earth down a huge, spiral walkway, surrounded by the 'stars' over more space views of earth. The whole room is filled with some of the most moving and apt music you will ever hear, and the walkway is lined with plaques for every shuttle mission to date, including special reminders of the two tragic missions, of Challenger in 1986 and Columbia in 2003.
It is a breathtaking and totally emotional 'journey', with the whole thing created in such vivid and realistic detail, you will be amazed (I think) at how much genuine insight you will have into a real launch and space flight. Even the gift shop at the end is one of the smartest and most enticing we have seen, so have your wallets ready for some truly one-of-a-kind gifts and souvenirs!
In all my 20 years or so of viewing these kinds of attractions and previewing the latest arrivals, this is far and away the most exciting and stimulating ride that I have seen. It should be an absolute triumph of both the designer's art and the 'real deal' of space travel. Everything about it is credible and genuinely astronaut tested, and it creates an absolute spine-tingling storm of anticipation.
The ride itself should also be neither too scary for those who worry about simulators nor too tame for thrill-ride buffs; it will not be aggressively dynamic (like Mission Space) and it will not make people feel ill! It will not have the science fiction element of the fantastic (like Star Tours), but the fact this is a genuine recreation of what we can usually only see (from a distance or on TV) should place this among Florida's absolutely pre-eminent attractions.
Miss it at your peril!!
My DH says that there are no slots available for toilet breaks!!
