The Perseverance Rover tracks made their debut at Mission: SPACE in EPCOT today, and we took a quick trip to the park to check them out.
Perseverance Rover Tracks
The new installation is located at the entrance to Mission: SPACE in World Discovery.
This new installation is the result of a collaboration between Walt Disney Imagineering and NASA.
This display recreates the surface of Mars, thanks to images captured by the Perseverance Rover provided by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which were used as reference by Disney artisans.
NASA also loaned Disney a prototype wheel of the rover to create the tread marks in the “Mars surface.”
A 3D print file was used to recreate sample tubes used on Mars, like the one embedded in the display here.
A small plaque is included in the installation for the Perseverance Rover, which says,
Perseverance Rover
NASA landed this robotic explorer on Mars on 02-18-2021
Perseverance is the first of an international team of robots. Its job is to collect samples of Mars rocks to be returned to Earth to answer the question: Was there ever life on Mars?
The old Spirit and Opportunity tracks disappeared after a pavement refurbishment back in August 2023.
Have you spotted this new display at EPCOT today? Are you an Orange mission or Green mission rider on Mission: SPACE? Let us know in the comments.
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Daisy Hips is a science communicator who brings the wonders of the natural world to readers. Her articles explore breakthroughs in various scientific disciplines, from space exploration to environmental conservation. Daisy is also an advocate for science education and enjoys stargazing in her spare time.
