Mission Space

Mission Space……those two words used to strike fear and trembling into my heart every time I heard them. I had stood outside it (as the designated coat and bag holder in our group) on several occasions, watching the green-faced people staggering out, some clutching ‘space sickness bags’, some needing to be supported by other members of their party, and decided that there was no way, ever, that I was going to subject myself to that sort of torture in the name of entertainment!!

However, on my most recent trip to Epcot, and after hearing the ride described in more detail than previously, I decided to grab my courage in both hands and go for it. I hadn’t really appreciated before that it is a simulator. I think I had imagined it was an actual moving ride. The simulators I had already experienced (Star Tours, Back to the Future) were fine, so I thought I could manage this one.

On entering the building I was asked whether I would like to be part of the Orange Team - More Intense Training (the original, thrilling voyage) or the Green Team – Less Intense Training (a milder journey with everything except the spinning). My companions, who were experienced Space travellers, were going to join the Orange Team, so I decided I might as well go for the full works too. I was given an orange ticket and went into the ride and joined the small queue for the Orange Team. We were then given a briefing on our ‘mission’ and at several points were told that if we suffered from motion sickness, fear of enclosed spaces or disliked spinning then we should not continue on the journey but should go to the Advanced Training Lab for Control Centre training. We were also advised to keep our eyes open and facing forward, or we would not experience the ride at its best, and would become disorientated. After being given our roles for the mission, we stepped into our space ship, fastened ourselves securely into our seats and the journey began.

The first thing I felt was blast off, as the space ship moved away from the launch pad. The G-forces were quite strong and the sensation of moving up into space was quite realistic (I imagine!). We then flew through space, encountering the odd obstacle on the way, of course. Each of the four people in the ship had a job to do, with buttons to press when instructed by mission control and before long our mission was over and we landed safely on Mars.

I kept my eyes forward and carried out all my tasks and was able to exit my ‘space ship’ without needing to reach for my ‘space sickness bag’. It was certainly an intense experience. Later in the same day I tried the Green Team experience and found it just as thrilling although not quite as intense as there is no G-force on the launch.

Now when I hear the words ‘Mission Space’, I will tremble no more!