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The elaborate ceremony, featuring a 2,000 piece band, fireworks, and a balloon launch, was the subject of the Wonderful World of Disney episode, ' Welcome to the World'.Īs originally presented by RCA, the queue and post-show experiences focused on RCA's leading role in communications with a Home of the Future featuring various RCA home entertainment systems. The attraction was dedicated on January 15, 1975, by RCA chairman Robert Sarnoff, Disney CEO Donn Tatum, and Apollo XV astronaut Colonel James Irwin, who took the first official ride. Taking three years to build, Space Mountain stands over 183 feet tall with a diameter of over 300 feet. To accommodate the attraction's planetarium and two tracks, Space Mountain's broad sloped roof was made up of 72 precast concrete beams each measuring around 117 feet in length and weighing 74 tons.

With advances in computer control technology and the sponsorship of RCA, Space Mountain's construction began on December 15, 1972. However, the concept would be stalled as a result of the technology not being quite there, space concerns regarding the four-track concept, and the absence of a corporate sponsor.Ībout seven years later, the concept was revived to fill a need in the Magic Kingdom for a thrill ride attraction. Beginning development in late 1964 under the title of 'Space Port' and designed by John Hench, the attraction would be a four-tracked roller coaster in the dark with controlled space lighting and projections to simulate space travel. Space Mountain was originally developed as a concept for Disneyland's 1967 overhaul of Tomorrowland pitched by Walt Disney himself.

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