When Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex’s newest attraction Gateway: The Deep Space Launch Complex opens on June 15, guests will be immersed in human spaceflight experiences of today and a not-so-distant future.
The 50,000-square-foot, multi-level attraction covered in futuristic color-shifting metal panels boasts multiple pieces of flight-proven human spaceflight hardware and many one-of-a kind interactive, multi-sensory exhibits. There is even a brand new café inside to allow weary space travelers to refuel their energy.
“Gateway: The Deep Space Launch Complex is a bold new attraction where guests will personally experience NASA’s next giant leap and beyond highlighting all the excitement within the space industry,” said Therrin Protze, chief operating officer of the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.
Upon entry, guests are immersed in the experience of deep space travel as the walls and floor come alive with planetary projections offering the illusion of walking on the surface of the moon or conducting a spacewalk alongside the International Space Station.
The attraction’s main hall surrounds guests with flight-proven and full-scale models of human spaceflight artifacts including an Orion capsule that once circled the planet and a SpaceX Falcon 9 booster that helped launch a car into space is suspended from the ceiling.
Almost every exhibit encourages guest interaction with the hardware through holographic experiences, guest-controlled projections, or even climbing inside a full-scale mockup of a Boeing Starliner capsule.
The second floor of Gateway offers guests the opportunity to become deep space explorers themselves.
A 30-foot floor-to-ceiling interactive wall allows guests to use motion and virtually manipulate representations of 40 satellites and probes. Touchscreens also offer the opportunity to manipulate holographic imagery and learn about the recently launched James Webb Space Telescope.
A new two-story, motion theater utilizes a spaceflight simulation ride to hang guests over an enormous domed projection screen creating an immersive virtual reality deep space exploration experience.
Guests will enter the concourse of Spaceport KSC — an imagined spaceport of the not-so-distant future. They can select one of four destinations: Cosmic Wonders, Daring Explorers, Red Planet, or Uncharted Worlds, and make their way to a departure gate and buckle into their waiting spaceship to blast off on their very own deep space exploration adventure.
Gateway’s Space Bowl Bistro café offers space travelers a relaxing atmosphere to enjoy refreshments including a selection of soft drinks, coconut water, coffee, tea, and domestic beer and an entirely new menu of choose-your-protein savory Bistro Bowls.
It opens on June 15 and is included in the price of daily admission to the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.
Jamie Groh is a space reporter for Florida Today. You can contact her at JGroh@floridatoday.com. Follow her on Twitter at @AlteredJamie.
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