Space Mountain - The Launch

Sections: Specials | Pictures | Sounds | Facts and Figures

Specials

Announcement at beginning

nc_welcome.mp3 [0:23 128kbps 364kB]

Recorded by Nicolas

Transcript

male voice, french:

Voyageurs de la Terre à la Lune, bienvenue à bord!
Veuillez baisser votre harnais de sécurité,
et garder bras et mains à l'intérieur de la navette,
pendant toute la durée du voyage.
La mise à feu est imminente.

female voice, english:

Welcome aboard, Space Travellers!
Please lower your harness
and keep your hands and arms
inside the vehicle at all times.
Prepare for Blast-Off!

Some textual descriptions of the ride (selected excerpts from the Reports-section)

Pictures

Testing the ride

Steve Bramson and John Groper testing the ride

Screenshots from the Documentary

Entering the cannon

Screenshots from the Documentary

During the blast-off

Screenshots from the Documentary

To the start position

Doing the turn before entering the cannon

at the Space Mountain Homepage

... and FIRST ROW!

at The DLP-Guidebook

This photo during the ride was made just before entering the mountain

made by Mathias

Train entering the cannon

at The DLP-Guidebook

Sounds

BOOM!

boom.mp3

Found at www.disneylandparis.com

Facts & Figures

The Hook

The pusher vehicle consists of a chassis that's mounted on rails, below the main ride rails, and has a fin that interfaces with the launch pole on the train. An electric motor rapidly winds up a thick metal rope, that pulls the pusher vehicle up the track, that pushes the train up to the top of the catapult. This system is very similar to the high speed wench systems used to launch aircraft on carriers, only its more reliable and safer.

REPORTED: Alan Taff, 9 Mar 1996

Launch System		Electric-motor-propelled catapult
			(similar to system used for aircraft
			carrier launches)
Acceleration		Up to 1.3 G during catapult launch
			(approx. 1.8 s to the top of the mountain)
Speed at top		14 m/s
Elevation during launch	26.5 meters
Minimum Launch interval	36 seconds (5 trains running)
Inclination		32 degrees
Special effects		Steam smoke system
			synchronized lighting
			audio "boom"