Walt Disney Imagineering Previs and Mock-up of the Spaceship Earth attraction in Epcot at Walt Disney World. Spaceship Earth is a geodesic sphere that serves as the symbolic structure of Epcot, at the Walt Disney World Resort. It is also the name of the dark ride attraction that is housed within the sphere that takes guests on a time machine-themed experience.
The 15-minute dark ride demonstrates to guests how advancements in human communication have helped to create the future one step at a time. Passengers journey back in time to witness the origins of prehistoric man, then travel forward in time to witness important breakthroughs in communication throughout history—from the invention of the alphabet to the creation of the printing press to today's modern communication advancements, including telecommunication and mass communication. At the conclusion of the ride, passengers have the chance to design their own future using touch screens that are embedded into the ride cars.
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. The architectural design was conceived by Wallace Floyd Design Group.[3] [4]The structural designs of both Expo 67 and Spaceship Earth were completed by Simpson Gumpertz & Heger Inc. of Boston, Massachusetts.
Geometrically, Spaceship Earth is derived from the Class 2 geodesic polyhedron with frequency of division equal to 8. Each face of the polyhedron is divided into three isosceles triangles to form each point. In theory, there are 11,520 total isosceles triangles forming 3840 points. 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.[5]
The appearance of being a monolithic sphere is an architectural goal that was achieved through a structural trick. Spaceship Earth is in fact two structural domes. Six legs are supported on pile groups that are driven up to 160 feet into Central Florida's soft earth. Those legs support a steel box-shaped ring at the sphere's perimeter, at about 30 degrees south latitude in earth-terms.[6] The upper structural dome sits on this ring. A grid of trusses inside the ring supports two helical structures of the ride and show system. Below the ring, a second dome is hung from the bottom, completing the spherical shape. The ring and trusses form a table-like structure which separates the upper dome from the lower. 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 cladding was designed so that when it rains, no water pours off the sides onto the ground. All water is collected through one-inch gaps in the facets into a gutter system, and finally channeled into the World Showcase Lagoon.
The structure was designed with the help of science fiction writer Ray Bradbury, who also helped write the original storyline for the attraction.[7][8][9] The term "Spaceship Earth" was popularised by Buckminster Fuller,[10] who also popularized the geodesic dome.
Construction took 26 months. Extending upwards from the table are "quadropod" structures, which support smaller beams which form the shell of the steel skeleton. Pipes stand the aluminum skin panels away from the skeleton and provide space for utilities. A small service car is parked in the interstitial space between the structural and cladding surfaces, and can carry a prone technician down the sides to access repair locations. The shop fabrication of the steel (done in nearby Tampa, Florida) was an early instance of computer-aided drafting and materials processing.
Spaceship Earth was originally sponsored by the Bell System from 1982 until 1984, when it was broken into smaller companies in 1984, and its parent company, AT&T, became an independent company. AT&T sponsored Spaceship Earth from 1984 until 2004. From 2005 until 2017, the German company Siemens was the sponsor of Spaceship Earth. The ride currently has no sponsor.
Narrators
Lawrence Dobkin: October 1, 1982 – May 25, 1986
Walter Cronkite: May 29, 1986 – August 15, 1994
Jeremy Irons: November 23, 1994 – July 9, 2007
Judi Dench: February 15, 2008–present
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