KENNEDY SPACE CENTER

You don't have to be an astronaut to explore space. The Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex provides an exhilarating and educational experience of the space program.
From NASA's earliest manned missions to the crews of today's Space Shuttle, scores of Astronaut heroes have lived, trained and left their mark here at Kennedy Space Center. Now it's your turn to explore. Nowhere else can you see, touch and hear more about the workings of America's space program -- or get so close to the amazing machines that launched a nation into space and kept it there for more than 40 years.

The journey begins as visitors enter the Shuttle Launch Simulation Facility, architecturally consistent
with Space Shuttle facilities at Kennedy Space Center. Visitors ascend along the gantry as astronaut
testimonials set the stage for what is to come. Entering the heart of Space Shuttle operations for the prelaunch
briefing, crew members are guided by veteran Space Shuttle Commander Charlie Bolden as he
takes them step-by-step through the launch sequence. They then enter the crew cabin in the Space
Shuttle’s payload bay and strap in for launch. For the next five minutes, the cabin’s 44 passengers see,
feel and live the powerful journey to 17,500 mph. Achieving orbit, the payload bay doors open to reveal a
breathtaking view of Earth seldom seen in the first person.

Shuttle Launch Experience combines the detailed accounts of astronaut experiences with the expertise of
premiere design engineers to produce an experience unique to attractions around the world. The technical
highlights include an all-to-real simulation of the space shuttle’s eight and a half minute ascent into orbit,
custom-designed crew cabins with unprecedented vertical range, high-definition audiovisual effects, and
advanced seating effects to maximize the reality of the experience.

Along with the NASA and DNC Parks & Resorts team, operators of Kennedy Space Center Visitor
Complex, attraction experts have designed and engineered Shuttle Launch Experience into the most
realistic launch simulation ever created. Shuttle Launch Experience is designed by BRC Imagination
Arts, who also designed the Apollo/Saturn V Center which opened in 1997 at the Visitor Complex.
BRPH Companies Inc. serves as the architect and construction manager. The crew cabin simulator
fabrication is by Oceaneering and the crew cabin concept designer and engineer is The Wheel Thing, Inc.
Technomedia Solutions is providing audio, visual and show control. HW Davis Construction is the
general contractor of the facility.