#SPACESHIP INSIDE FULL#

The structure was designed with the help of science fiction writer Ray Bradbury, who also helped write the original storyline for the attraction. The Alucobond construction, which took over two years to complete All water is collected through one-inch gaps in the facets into a gutter system, and the water is channeled into the World Showcase Lagoon. The cladding was designed so that when it rains, no water pours off the sides onto the ground. Supported by and about three feet off the structural domes is a cladding sphere to which the shiny Alucobond panels and drainage system are mounted.

The ring and trusses form a table-like structure which separates the upper dome from the lower. Below the ring, a second dome is hung from the bottom, completing the spherical shape. A grid of trusses inside the ring supports two helical structures of the ride and show system. The upper structural dome sits on this ring. Those legs support a steel box-shaped ring at the sphere's perimeter, at about 30 degrees south latitude in earth-terms.

Six legs are supported on pile groups that are driven up to 160 feet into Central Florida's soft earth. Spaceship Earth is in fact two structural domes. The appearance of being a monolithic sphere is an architectural goal that was achieved through a structural trick.

#SPACESHIP INSIDE FULL#

In reality, some of those triangles are partially or fully nonexistent due to supports and doors there are actually only 11,324 silvered facets, with 954 partial or full flat triangular panels. In theory, there are 11,520 total isosceles triangles forming 3840 points. Each face of the polyhedron is divided into three isosceles triangles to form each point. Geometrically, Spaceship Earth is derived from the Class 2 geodesic polyhedron with frequency of division equal to 8. The structural designs of both Expo 67 and Spaceship Earth were completed by Simpson Gumpertz & Heger Inc. The architectural design was conceived by Wallace Floyd Design Group.

The structure is similar in texture to the United States pavilion from Expo 67 in Montreal but, unlike that structure, Spaceship Earth is a complete sphere, supported by three pairs of legs. Д¬lose-up of Spaceship Earth's Alucobond tiles However, its refurbishment is currently placed on indefinite hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On February 25, 2020, the Disney Parks Blog announced that Spaceship Earth would be closing for refurbishment on May 26, 2020. Since its 1982 opening, the ride has been updated three times-in 1986, 1994, and 2008.

Riding in Omnimover-type vehicles along a track that spirals up and down the geodesic sphere, passengers are taken through scenes depicting important breakthroughs in communication throughout history-from the development of early language through cave paintings, to the use of hieroglyphs, to the invention of the alphabet, to the creation of the printing press, to today's modern communication advancements, including telecommunication and mass communication. The 15-minute ride takes guests on a time machine-themed experience, demonstrating how advancements in human communication have helped to create the future one step at a time. The geodesic sphere in which the attraction is housed has served as the symbolic structure of Epcot since the park opened in 1982. Spaceship Earth is a dark ride attraction at the Epcot theme park at the Walt Disney World in Bay Lake, Florida.

Spaceship inside