Terrifyingly Realistic Shuttle Simulator Opens in Florida

Just in time for summer, the Kennedy Space Center in Florida has launched what just might be the hottest ride found at any amusement park. And when I say launch, I do indeed mean launch.

NASA has put their best brains together to come up with an attraction that will blow the pants off of nearby Disney World; a shuttle launch simulator.

Now this might not sound all that exciting. When I first heard about it I pictured a cheesy shuttle mock-up with hydraulics that shimmied and bumped you around to simulate the launch into outer space. Chris Haslam, writing for the Sunday Times (UK), however, was one of the first journalists to step into the simulator and according to his report, it sounds like he nearly wet his pants.

Haslam explains how NASA has expertly replicated the seven million pounds of thrust experienced by the shuttle to the point of your head being forced back, your insides feeling queasy, and my very favorite quote, “your jowls are wobbling like a fat girl on a tumble dryer.”

Throw in some realistic sound effects and a TV screen that replicates the view seen by the astronauts, and you got a very cool experience indeed.

And, instead of paying the Russians $20 million to fly into outer space, you’ve now just done it for $38.