Earth Removed for Refurbishment From Mission: SPACE Entrance at EPCOT

Shannen Ace

Earth Removed for Refurbishment From Mission: SPACE Entrance at EPCOT

Earth has been removed from the entrance area of Mission: SPACE at EPCOT for refurbishment. The pavement of the Mission: SPACE courtyard was recently updated, with Mars rover tracks removed and replaced with planet mosaics.

Earth Removed from Mission: SPACE

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In May we noted that the giant Mars orb front and center at the attraction was wasting away, with paint peeling to reveal the gray underneath. When construction walls went up a few days later, we thought it was for the refurbishment of the red planet, but it turned out to be for the pavement.

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Now the Earth orb has been removed, suggesting that maybe a refurbishment of Mars will follow.

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Earth usually sits beneath this Mission: SPACE sign, with a spaceship appearing to fly around it.

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Now the spaceship is flying through open air.

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Reportedly, Earth has been removed to fix its long-broken spinning mechanism. You can see how Earth usually looks in the photos below.

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Mission: SPACE

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Mission: Space is a centrifugal motion simulator in the World Discovery neighborhood of EPCOT. It replaced the beloved Horizons attraction in 2003. The attraction simulates the thrill of space travel using high G-forces to make guests feel like they’re launching on a mission to Mars.

Originally just one Mars voyage experience with maximum intensity was available. With many guests reporting motion sickness issues, a less intense version of the Mars mission was introduced. Guests could choose between the intense orange mission or the tamer green mission. Other than intensity, they were identical. In 2017, the green mission was replaced with a mission around Earth, which is still less intense than the Mars mission.

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