It's in the Details #14

In this series, we'll be looking at details that are hidden all around you at the parks. The Imagineers do a great job placing in many hidden gems and things to try that one has to take a moment to notice, or explore. Many of these are obvious and in plain sight, and some are hidden quite well, you just have to know where to look.

    This week, I wanted to share something I really thought was kind of cool, and not well known (at least, from what I could tell). I had planned to post this one last week, having finally taken a difficult shot that had eluded me, but I decided to share about the Tower of Terror instead.

  For everyone that's either ridden Space Mountain, or even the Peoplemover, you've seen the above spaceship floating above you docked in its mooring in Spaceport 75. It's an excellent old school 70's looking spacecraft, with almost a 2001-ish feel; it's very angular and utilitarian. While on the lift hill, it's to either your right or left, depending on the side you boarded, and recognizable with its astronauts working outside. From the Peoplemover, you get your first look at the inside of Space Mountain as you pass under the craft's blue, lit engines. Definitely a sight to see above you after popping out of a dark tunnel. 

  Not very well noticed is a designation on the side of its engine housing:

X-1

  It's definitely not something most folks would see as they rose on the dark lift hill, what with the excitement of the impending ride, the many visual details, and the awesome Station crew in their sunglasses looking on. It's also not the easiest to see within the Peoplemover. It can just be added to list of details people quickly pass by as they travel along. On the old flight board at the entrance to the ride (which has been since updated with its refurb, as I mentioned in It's in the Details #5), you could actually see some flights on which the craft would take in the future.

  Something else not as known is that this spacecraft has a sibling, or most accurately, a successor, considering the years between them. There's another space-themed attraction on Walt Disney World Property, also with its own star spacecraft; this one is heavily promoted, as well. While on board for Mission Space, you are simulating a flight on the new interplanetary craft that goes by the designation, X-2; it's fully known as the X-2 Deep Space Shuttle. I guess spacecraft have to be updated for each particular mission, and NASA has facilities all over to be sure they get their jobs done, even in the future that could be and never was.

Missed my Tower of Terror It's in the Details #13? Check it out here!