Guide Review
I can't tell you every detail. Besides there are four different missions, so the one you may be assigned could be a completely different experience.The Mission: SPACE experience begins long before you enter the four-person "space" capsule that launches guests into the pulse-racing liftoff and space mission I described above. As I entered the Mission: SPACE attraction, I was stuck by the enormity of the courtyard — Planetary Plaza — entrance to the attraction with replicas Earth, Jupiter and the moon. Once inside, the setting for the attraction is several decades into the future at the International Space Training Center where astronauts are being recruited. It is here that I got the first glimpse of the ISTC's X2 Trainer — the same futuristic spacecraft I rode to Mars.
Further inside, the focal point is a slowly turning 35-foot-tall gravity wheel containing exercise rooms, offices, work areas and sleeping cubicles for space teams. Overhead hangs an authentic Apollo-era Lunar Rover display unit on loan from the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum. Plaques line the wide hallway leading to Team Dispatch. They mark great moments in space flight — from 1961 when Yuri Gargarin became the first man in space, to the first family in space in the year 2030. Behind glass opposite these plaques is a Training Operations Room that house several large monitors showing video feeds of ongoing ISTC training sessions.
A dispatch officer motions astronaut hopefuls forward. We are quickly assigned to teams of four people and sent to the Ready Room. The Ready Room is where each team member receives a crew-member assignment — commander, pilot, navigator or engineer. Each one is responsible for a specific task during the mission, enabling the team to affect what happens during their adventure. Here you meet CapCom, or capsule communicator, which is the voice of Mission Control who guides astronauts through their missions.
Once you step into the pre-flight corridor, you know this is a serious adventure! It is here you receive final instructions and then are escorted to an X-2 trainer. All systems are go! (For those who have a problem with close quarters, spinning or loud noises, it is here that you can ask to bypass the ride and go directly to the advanced training lab.) Each team enters the X-2 trainer, stows their belongings, and buckles in for liftoff. The entire capsule moves into launch position, pointed straight up toward the sky, and the countdown begins.
When the exciting flight is over, more advanced training is presented in a colorful area called the Advanced Training Lab. It is an interactive play area where there are more space adventures. My favorite is Mission: SPACE Race.
Mission: SPACE Race is an adventure game that pits two teams, each made up of both astronauts and ground control personnel, to race against time to be the first to complete a successful mission. Teams must work together to overcome challenges and setbacks in order to send their rocket from Mars back to Earth.
Also, in this area is Space Base which is an interactive play area made for junior astronauts where they can climb, explore and just have fun. Expedition: Mars is a simulated obstacle course to prep explorers for conditions on other planets using a joystick and jet-pack button, and Postcards from Space will allow guests to make a video of themselves with an entertaining space backdrop to email friends and family. Finally, as you exit the attraction, of interest to shoppers will be Mission: SPACE Cargo Bay — a 1,500-square-foot retail shop where astronaut-inspired gear and supplies will be on sale.
This guide gives Mission: SPACE a thumbs up! Those who love awesome thrill rides won't be disappointed, and those who choose to bypass the simulated space adventure will still find plenty to inform and entertain. The newest addition to Epcot is scheduled to launch August 15. Be the first in line!
