Spaceship Earth - Disney's EPCOT - Lake Buena Vista, Florida

            Spaceship Earth, which opened on October 1, 1982, is a geodesic sphere that serves as the symbolic structure of Epcot, at the Walt Disney World Resort. One of the most recognizable structures of any theme park, 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 using the Omnimover system.

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. The structural designs of both Expo 67 and Spaceship Earth were completed by Simpson Gumpertz & Heger Inc. of Boston, Mass.

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.

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. 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.

Technical Information (or Nerdy Stuff):
Camera - Nikon D5200 (handheld)
Lens – Nikkor 18-300mm Zoom
ISO – 2000
Aperture – f/6.3
Exposure – 1/20 second
Focal Length – 18mm

The original RAW file was processed with Adobe Camera Raw and final adjustments were made with Photoshop CS6.

"For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."  ~Jeremiah 29:11
   

Taken in: United States / Florida / Bay Lake (show map)

Taken on: May 24, 2016

Tags:

Spaceship Earth

geodesic sphere

dark ride attraction

time machine-themed experience

Omnimover system

Wallace Floyd Design Group

Simpson Gumpertz & Heger Inc.

Class 2 geodesic polyhedron with frequency of division equal to 8

Class 2 geodesic polyhedron

Lake Buena Vista

JLR Photography

Nikon D7200

Nikon

D7200

photography

Lake Buena Vista, FL

Central Florida

Orange County

Florida

2016

Engineers with cameras

EPCOT

Disney's Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow

Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow

Disney’s EPCOT

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Walt Disney World

Disney

Disney World

Spaceship Earth at night

EPCOT at night

Night-time Disney

Happiest Place on Earth

Where Dreams Come True

magical

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Imagineering

Disney attraction

Walt Disney World Resort

Disney Imagineering

nighttime

night photography

after dark

at night

High ISO

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Disney World at night

Engineering as Art

Of and By Engineers

Engineering is Art

engineering

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opened on October 1, 1982

WDW

WDW's EPCOT

WDW's Spaceship Earth

colorful

colors

lights

colored lights

Disney after dark

EPCOT after dark

EPCOT's icon

Icon of EPCOT

EPCOT attraction

ride at EPCOT

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Camera: Nikon D7200, f/6.3, 1/20 sec, 18mm (=27mm), ISO 2000 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Nikon D7200
Lens:	18.0-300.0 mm f/3.5-5.6
Aperture:	f/6.3
Exposure Time:	0.05 sec (1/20)
Focal Length:	18mm (35mm equivalent: 27mm)
ISO:	2000
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Program:	Manual
Exposure Mode:	Manual
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Gain Control:	High gain up
Saturation:	High
Sharpness:	Hard
Color Space:	Uncalibrated
Software:	Adobe Photoshop CS6 (Windows)
Show full info

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