Pick Your Intensity
Mars-bound cadets can choose from 2 levels of training. Both offer the same training mission but differ in intensity. The Orange Team is the more intense training experience, while the Green Team is less intense.
Orange Team
The Orange Team experience uses a centrifuge that spins and tilts to simulate speed and G-forces during launch and re-entry. The Green Team experience is a motion simulator ride that does not spin and is less likely to cause motion sickness.
Green Team
If you are prone to motion sickness or uncertain about which level to choose, you should opt for the Green Team for a less intense but still thoroughly exhilarating experience.
Details
Presented by: HP (Hewlett Packard)
Location: Future World in Epcot (between GM Test Track and Wonders of Life pavilions)
Timeline: International Space Training Center, year 2036
Height of attraction: 35 feet
Area of attraction: 45,000 square feet
Queuing options: Standby line, singles line, and FASTPASS
Minimum guest height requirement: 44 inches
Precautions: Guests prone to motion sickness or sensitive to tight spaces, loud noises, simulation or spinning can opt for the fun of the post-show Advance Training Lab
Planetary Plaza: Anchored with dramatic spheres representing the moon, Jupiter, a rotating Earth and the red planet. Quotations from significant persons adorn the area including, "Look Upward...from this world to the heavens," Plato; "The Universe...stands continually open to our gaze..." Galileo; and "We set sail on this new sea because there is knowledge to be gained..." U.S. President John F. Kennedy.
Space Simulation Lab: Anchored by a rotating Gravity Wheel. Also: a Lunar Rover on loan from the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.
Gravity Wheel: 35 feet in diameter. Cutaway views of living areas in a habitat designed for space travel.
Ready Room: Crew positions -- pilot, commander, navigator, engineer. CapCom leading the training mission orientation is actor Gary Sinise.
Ride bays: 4 bays, each housing 10 X-2 rocket capsules
X-2 rocket capsule configuration: Straight-across seating for a crew of 4 guests
Total number of guests per each ride cycle: 160
Duration of ride: The entire Mission: SPACE experience, from pre-show to Advance Training Lab, can last from 45 minutes to more than an hour. The ride to Mars lasts approximately 4 minutes from capsule door close to open.
Ride system: State-of-the-art centrifuge technology, sophisticated visual imaging systems and audio systems. Two primary computers on the ride system control the entire ride and show functions of the attraction, including the pitch and roll of each spacecraft. In addition there are 30 motion-control computers on board that control altitude during flight. A show-control computer operates the interactive functions within each capsule.
G-Force: Of less force and less duration than an actual shuttle launch, and lower intensity than a typical roller coaster
Advance Training Lab: Post-show area includes Space Race, Space Base, Expedition: Mars, Postcards from Space
Mission: SPACE Cargo Bay: A 1,500-square-foot merchandise location includes astronaut-inspired gear
Trivia
Mission: SPACE in it's early conceptual desgin was intended to be based on a vertical coaster tower to simulate the launch experience.
The Horizons show building was initially to be the home of Mission: SPACE. Ultimately the business decision was taken to demolish the building and start from scratch. A Horizons logo can be found in the gravity wheel in the queue area.