The final frontier, Disney style

The first big new ride at Walt Disney World’s Epcot theme park in five years will lift off the launchpad on Aug. 15 in Florida, aiming to simulate a trip to Mars.

The ride, called Mission: Space, took five years and a reported $100 million or more to develop with the help of former NASA advisors and scientists. (Disney spokesman Rick Sylvain declined to confirm the cost.)

Disney has made the ride available to guests several hours a day for several weeks of tests. Details were still being worked out last week, including the length of the ride, which was about four minutes.

Riders are strapped into “capsules,” four people across, facing close-up screens that project the experience. With a simulated roar of the engines, they take off from Earth.

“The launch is a huge rush,” Sylvain said. “Before you know it, you’re on your back, looking up into the sky.”

Through centrifuge technology, riders feel G-forces about twice the normal force of gravity, but “it’s no more than you get on an average roller coaster,” he added.

Each would-be astronaut has a role to play -- pilot, engineer, navigator or commander -- using buttons to guide the spacecraft past the Hubble Space Telescope and the moon and through an asteroid storm before “landing” on the Red Planet.

To make the trip more realistic, Disney used computer-generated images based on data that a NASA satellite gathered while orbiting Mars, Sylvain said.

People who are prone to motion sickness or claustrophobia might consider skipping this trip, and warning signs to that effect are posted outside Mission: Space. Comments posted on Internet chat rooms have been generally favorable, although a few riders complained of motion sickness.

Mission: Space will take its place in a constellation of space-themed rides at Disney World, including Space Mountain, Star Tours, Astro Orbiter and Spaceship Earth. The last major ride to open at Epcot was Test Track, in 1998.

Walt Disney World is open daily. Admission is $52 for adults and children older than 9, and $42 for children 3 to 9. Multi-park and multi-day passes are available. (407) 824-4321, www.disneyworld.com.