TWA dropped its sponsorship of Rocket to the Moon in 1961. The elegant Moonliner was like an elegant TWA Super Constellation propeller aircraft in the age of TWA Boeing 707 and Convair 880 jets. NASA’s Project Mercury sent astronauts into orbit using straightforward, cylindrical Atlas rockets. The Moonliner had looked futuristic in 1955-but by the late 1950s, it already looked like a relic of the past.

Moonliner in the 1955 model at Disneyland - The First 50 Magical Years The red-and-white TWA Moonliner was the icon for Tomorrowland. Rocket to the Moon opened in Disneyland in 1955. Prepare to land.Īlthough the ride is a simulation, the optimism about the future is real.

After your craft turns around, you see your destination on the floor screen. Along the way, you learn interesting facts about the Moon and the planets. You don’t actually land on the Moon, but you get to fly around the back side of the Moon. The Moon grows larger on the ceiling screen as the Earth gets smaller on the floor screen. As you leave the Earth’s atmosphere, the blue sky changes to the blackness of outer space. You’re high above the launch pad, then high above Anaheim, and soon high above the Earth. The floor screen will show you where you’ve been, while the ceiling screen will show you where you’re going-almost as if they were windows.Īs you lift off, look at the floor screen. There’s a round projection screen in the center of the floor, another on the ceiling. Take a seat in one of the three tiered rows surrounding the screen in concentric circles. Your Rocket to the Moon simulation takes place in one of two identical dome-shaped “passenger chamber” theaters. Twin domes of Rocket to the Moon, allowing frequent departures Launching and landing would be done over a “firing center” to confine and lead off the superheated exhaust gases.Īlthough this attraction is sponsored by TWA, you still need to present a ticket as you enter the show building. Liquid coolants would circulate through all window panels and cockpit enclosures. The light color used on the outer surface is for maximum reflectivity of solar radiation and would probably be a baked enamel finish to resist excessive heat due to atmospheric friction. The 3 retractable landing legs would be equipped with shock absorbers. Landing tail-first, no air-foils or wings would be necessary, its vertical descent controlled by its jets. Stabilized in flight by gyroscopes, it would be controlled by automatic pilots and magnetic tapes. The full-scale ship would be 240 feet in length and designed to use nuclear energy as fuel. THIS 80-FOOT PYLON is a ? scale model of a rocket ship of the future. A sign at the base of the Moonliner explains its scale: The Moonliner is big, but a real Moonliner in 1986 will be even larger. TWA’s Rocket to the Moon gives you a preview of that experience, “in ten thrilling minutes-all without ever leaving the ground.” By then, TWA expects to provide passenger service to the Moon at speeds exceeding 172 thousand miles an hour. Tomorrowland represents the future-the world of 1986, around 30 years from the present.

Photo by Merrill Garner, 1958, courtesy of M. Photo by Robert Breneman, 1958, courtesy of David Breneman You can even see the Moonliner from the freeway. Standing on its three legs, the tip of the 72-foot rocket is 80 feet above the ground, so it’s taller than 77-foot Sleeping Beauty Castle. The TWA Moonliner is the tallest point in Yesterland-at least if you visit before the construction of 147-foot Matterhorn Mountain. Well, in reality, only TWA can provide a simulation of it. But once you get to Yesterland, only Trans World Airlines-TWA-can take you to the Moon. There are plenty of yester airlines you could fly on your way to Yesterland-including Western Airlines, Pacific Southwest Airlines (PSA), and Bonanza Airlines.

Rocket simulation 77