Space tourism, we’re told, is about to blast off. Only trouble is, the prices
are stratospheric. The Russian Space Agency charges £10m for a return flight
to space; and when Virgin Galactic, the new Branson brainwave, launches in
2009, the two-hour, suborbital joyrides will go at the no-frills rate of
£100,000. The final frontier is clearly reserved for software billionaires,
Russian oligarchs and the odd unhinged British lottery winner.
So, forget Virgin Galactic and take Virgin Atlantic to Florida for the next
best thing. This weekend, the Kennedy Space Center, the thinking man’s theme
park, opened the summer’s most spectacular ride: a £30m simulation of a
space-shuttle launch.
Just a 45-minute drive from the tiresome fantasies of Orlando, this could
easily have been another disappointing bit of product-placement
imagineering. Last week, I was the first journalist to get a ride (four
rides, in fact), and I can tell you that it’s not. It’s bloody terrifying.
The preflight briefing for the Shuttle Launch Experience takes place in a
high-tech, low-lit facility, like something from a Doctor Who set. Huge
plasma screens are used to explain the ludicrous business of throwing men
into space. The external fuel tank contains 143,351 gallons of liquid oxygen
and 385,265 gallons of liquid hydrogen; attached to it are two solid rocket
boosters, each containing about 500 tons of high-explosive ammonium
perchlorate. “In effect, you’re taking an explosion and trying to control
it,” says astronaut Michael P Anderson. “There are a million things that can
go wrong.”
Then you’re ushered into the simulator, a 44-seat unit Nasa would like you to
believe has been fitted into the cargo bay of a real shuttle. As you tip
into the vertical prelaunch position, all you can see is the nose of the
fuel tank extending before you, above it only sky. The distant voice of the
capsule communicator seems mockingly detached from your plight as his
countdown reaches zero, the engines ignite and the shuttle lurches skywards.
The simulator’s visual effects are as spectacular as the noise is deafening.
Above the roar, the craft creaks, as though struggling against the opposing
forces of gravity, air resistance and the engines’ seven million pounds of
thrust to avoid collapsing like an empty beer can. In contrast to this
crushing, earth-defying power, the 747 that brought me here offered a
piffling 200,000 pounds of thrust.
Mach 1 is reached in less than a minute. By now, your head is being forced
back against the seat and your jowls are wobbling like a fat girl on a
tumble dryer. I’ve no idea how they achieve this effect on something that
isn’t moving, but they’re Nasa, and they’re wilier than a crate of coyotes.
At two minutes and two seconds, you’ve reached 3,000mph and you feel a bit
sick, but you’re now at the point astronauts call negative return. It means
there’s no going back, and from here on, the ride gets rougher still, the
vibrations throwing passengers hard against their restraints, beer bellies
and breasts oscillating uncontrollably. After eight minutes and 32 seconds,
the shuttle is hurtling heavenwards at 17,500mph, pulling 25g.
Suddenly, it all goes quiet. You’ve reached earth orbit, and Meco – Main
Engine Cutoff. A postcoital calm falls across the ship, a pint of
exhilaration with a chaser of relief, then, as you hang upside down in your
seat, the cargo doors open and you look down on Italy, drifting by 115 miles
below.
This could have been cheesy. Nasa could have signed a deal to use Luke
Skywalker as the commentator, or blended ET into the concept, but it didn’t.
It relies instead on the real stars, the men and women who rode the molotov
monster to the final frontier; and by keeping it real, they’ve created the
scariest ride in the world.
Getting there: Virgin Holidays (0870 220 2788, www.virginholidays.co.uk
) has seven nights at the Rodeway Inn, in Orlando, for £699pp, including
flights from Gatwick and car hire. Entrance to the Kennedy Space Center (www.kennedyspacecenter.com
) costs £19 for adults and £10 for children.
in the real shuttles missions, the maximum is 3 G at 2 times : before the 2 boosters separations, and at the last minutes before MECO. (still launch)
at the reentry, there is between 1.5 G and 2 G.
10 - 12 G are fatal for any human.
with Apollo, there was average 4.5 G during launch and re-entry.
cslevine, Paris, France
I rode this today, with wife and child.
We love Florida. You name it, we've ridden it.
I've got to say that this was the most over hyped and old hat ride we've ever done. The presentation is slick, the atmosphere great, the complex big and impressive, but then you sit in the shuttle thing......it wobbles, shakes, makes some noise, there's a stupid bit where they pretend there's a fault, and then the cargo bay doors open to reveal a comedy earth. Don't bother queueing, don't bother doing it. If you want the best in Florida, the ride The Hulk and Spiderman at Universal.
Steve Olive, Wellington, Somerset
'Tiresome fantasies of orlando'??
Admit it: you went on the 'its a small world' ride at disney while you were there!
Libs, wakefield, UK
that should be "17,500mph, Mach 25", not 25 G (although google calculator says Mach 25 is on the order of 19,000mph) . 25 times the force of gravity would be extremely uncomfortable if not damaging.. Astronauts are routinely only trained upt to 8 G, which can make ordinary unassissted people pass out.
James, Austin, TX
Love the line about the fat girl on the tumble dryer. Been visiting Orlando for the past five years and there's nothing like this at any of the parks. This ride has got to be ridden.
David Thomas, Leicester, UK
i would definately enjoy the ride!!!!!!!!!
kamran naqvi , OKLAHOMA CITY , oklahoma