Mission: Space Claims Another Victim

I love this ride at Disney’s Epcot Center, and in fact, I rode it less than two weeks ago. “Mission: Space” is a ride in which riders sit in a tight chair within a centrifuge, looking at a realistic video screen of a space launch. Riders experience what feels like 2 or 3 G forces during a launch, a subsequent rocket boost around the Moon and a crash landing on Mars.

But a woman died after riding the ride. I think the worst way to go would be on vacation. Unfortunately, this isn’t the first person to die after riding the attraction. A 4-year-old with a bad heart died last year.

Thanks to Drudge for the news pointer. From the AP here:

A second person in less than a year died Wednesday after going on a ride at Walt Disney World so intense that it has motion sickness bags.

The 49-year-old woman became ill after riding “Mission: Space” on Tuesday. She was taken to a hospital, where she died, park spokeswoman Kim Prunty said in a statement. No more information on the woman would be released Wednesday night, she said.

The ride has been closed, and a state agency will monitor an inspection, Prunty said.

Disney officials told state inspectors Wednesday that the woman felt dizzy and nauseated after the ride and may have had high blood pressure and other health problems, said Terence McElroy, a spokesman for the department that oversees the ride-monitoring agency.

The $100 million ride, one of Disney World’s most popular, was closed in June after the death of a 4-year-old boy who passed out while aboard. An autopsy concluded he died of a heart condition that a medical examiner said can cause sudden death in stressful situations.

The ride reopened after company engineers concluded it was operating normally.

“Mission: Space” spins riders in a centrifuge that subjects them to twice the normal force of gravity. Some riders have been taken to the hospital with chest pain.

I really hope they don’t close the ride permanently. It is very thrilling, but the warnings do say that those with heart conditions and high blood pressure shouldn’t ride it. Besides, you would never think that Disney would own a ride with one of the highest mortality rates per year. This just makes the ride a bit more appealing.