spacecraft.co.ukNASA - Public Visits the Shuttle Launch Experience
Flying into space is an adventure only a select few will ever experience. But the U.S. space agency, NASA, is now offering visitors to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida the excitement of spaceflight without ever leaving the ground.
For the first time, ordinary people can experience the sensations of soaring into space on board the Shuttle Launch Experience.
This 4,000 square meter attraction opened in May and has attracted thrill-seekers from all over the world.
But this is no ordinary amusement park ride. Shuttle astronauts and ride engineers spent three years designing the attraction to ensure that it accurately simulates the reality of a space shuttle launch, within the limitations of Earth's gravity.
As the seat belt harnesses click into place, the passengers are no longer ordinary civilians; they are temporarily NASA astronauts. These lucky cadets are able to experience the thrill of a shuttle launch without years of astronaut training. This $60 million attraction provides riders with the closest thing to actually flying on a shuttle.
As the mission comes to a close and the passengers return to Earth, they have a better idea of what blasting into space is like.
In the past 25 years, NASA has flown over a hundred shuttle launches. The Shuttle Launch Experience is its first attempt to offer ordinary people the chance to experience lifting off into space.
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