The simulator is part of a $160-million, 10-year expansion of the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.
By Associated Press
Published July 7, 2005
CAPE CANAVERAL - Tourists at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex will be able to strap into a simulator and feel the mimicked gyrations of a shuttle launch as part of a $160-million expansion at the complex, officials said Wednesday.
The goal of the 10-year expansion of the complex on the grounds of the space center is to tell the story of the U.S. space program using the same high-tech storytelling methods found at theme parks.
When the simulator opens in early 2007, tourists will get a chance to feel what astronauts experience, said Daniel LeBlanc, chief operating officer for the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, which is run by a private company, Delaware North Companies Inc.
The U.S. space program is in a precarious position as NASA prepares for next week's launch of Discovery, the first shuttle launch since the fleet was grounded after the Columbia disaster killed seven astronauts. NASA also is in the early stages of developing a next-generation vehicle.
Officials at the visitor complex, which gets about 1.5-million tourists a year, don't want you to call the $60-million Shuttle Launch Experience a "thrill" ride.
"This isn't a thrill ride. This is based absolutely on reality," LeBlanc said.
The shuttle simulator will be less intense and uses technology different from another Central Florida ride that simulates a liftoff into space. The $100-million Mission: Space ride at Walt Disney World uses a centrifuge and recreates twice the force of gravity. The Shuttle Launch Experience will use a simulator that can turn people 30 degrees forward and 70 degrees backward.
Even though NASA plans to phase out the space shuttle in five years, the ride will still be relevant since it recreates an era of human space flight, said former shuttle commander Rick Searfoss, one of three astronauts who served as consultants on the ride.
"Some people may say, "Is this going to be outdated?' " Searfoss said. "I think the opposite."
Other additions planned over the next 10 years include an exhibit using NASA imagery, sprinklers and heat to simulate what it would be like to fly alongside probes passing planets, moons and asteroids; a 3-D movie on the international space station; a planetarium attraction that will show images from the Hubble and Chandra space telescopes; a mini science museum with interactive exhibits on Earth's topography and atmosphere; and one of the three shuttles that will be retired in 2010.
The simulator ride is being financed with the help of a $35-million loan facilitated by the Florida Space Authority. Visitor complex officials expect revenue from admissions, food and retail sales to pay for it.
"The ride will enhance our role not only as a tourist destination but as the place for space," said Lt. Gov. Toni Jennings, who recently was named to head a commission that will recommend ways for Florida to increase its role in government and commercial space exploration.
The 44,000-square-foot Shuttle Launch Experience will be divided into three sections. In the first part, current and former astronauts will describe their recollections on spaceflight and shuttle launches. The second part will give an explanation of the logistics of launching a shuttle into space. The third section will be the 31/2-minute simulator ride, part of which will recreate cargo doors of the shuttle opening to reveal an image of Earth from space.
"It's meant to be as much an emotional experience as an educational experience," LeBlanc said. "We're trying to put people into the minds, bodies and souls of what the astronauts are experiencing."
ON THE WEB: Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex at www.kennedyspacecenter.com[Last modified July 7, 2005, 01:00:11]
