Tour of the Universe was a Space Shuttle simulation ride located in the basement level of the

CN Tower The CN Tower (french: Tour CN) is a concrete communications and observation tower in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Built on the former Railway Lands, it was completed in 1976. Its name "CN" referred to Canadian National, the railway c ...

. Operating between 1985 and 1992, it was the world's first flight

simulator ride Simulator rides are a type of amusement park or fairground ride, where the audience is shown a movie while their seats move to correspond to the action on screen. There are many types but they fall into the heading of entertainment unlike the ...

. The ride was the idea of

Moses Znaimer Moses Znaimer (; born 1942) is a Tajik-born Canadian media executive of jewish descent. He is the co-founder and former head of Citytv, the first independent television station in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and the current head of ZoomerMedia ...

and designed by SimEx. The name of the ride, ''Tour of the Universe'', and its content were adapted from a work of the same name cowritten in 1980 by

Robert Holdstock Robert Paul Holdstock (2 August 1948 – 29 November 2009) was an English novelist and author best known for his works of Celtic, Nordic, Gothic and Pictish fantasy literature, predominantly in the fantasy subgenre of mythic fiction. Holds ...

and Malcolm Edwards, who sold the rights for the ride. Construction began in 1984 and the ride began operations in 1986. Built by Showscan Film, the ride used two Boeing 747 simulators designed and built by Redifusion Ltd in Crawley, UK. Showscan designed and built the spacecraft themed cabin that seated the 40 passengers. Director, special effects expert and Showscan owner

Douglas Trumbull Douglas Hunt Trumbull (; April 8, 1942 – February 7, 2022) was an American film director and innovative visual effects supervisor. He pioneered methods in special effects and created scenes for '' 2001: A Space Odyssey'', ''Close Encounters ...

produced the show film. The ride system and its controls were later the basis for Disneyland's

Star Tours Star Tours was a motion simulator attraction at several Disney theme parks, based on the successful ''Star Wars'' film series created by George Lucas. Set in the ''Star Wars'' universe, the attraction sent guests on an excursion trip to Endor, ...

ride. The ride was replaced in 1992 with a similar attraction entitled "Space Race." It was later dismantled and replaced by two other SimEx rides in 1998 and 1999. Similar rides were proposed for Japan and Australia.

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The ride featured a round trip spaceflight to Jupiter. Passengers first boarded an elevator that took them into the depths of the CN Tower and forward to the year 2019, arriving at Spaceport Toronto. Operated by

CP Air Canadian Pacific Air Lines was a Canadian airline that operated from 1942 to 1987. It operated under the name CP Air from 1968 to 1986. Headquartered at Vancouver International Airport in Richmond, British Columbia, it served domestic Canadian a ...

Interplanetary (or Canadian Interplanetary after CP Air was absorbed by Canadian in 1987), the shuttle resembled the US

Space Shuttle The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. Its official program ...

, but instead of a cargo bay the ship had a passenger compartment. Before boarding their flight, passengers moved through various themed areas of the spaceport such as Customs, Security and Medical. Passengers would be able to print out their tickets and be inoculated against space diseases such as "Ganymede Rash". When aboard the interplanetary shuttle, passengers were launched upward through the hollow core of the CN Tower, arriving at a space station in orbit, and traveling to Jupiter while dodging an asteroid.

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References

SimEx
(last accessed February 3, 2010) Culture of Toronto Space Shuttle tourist attractions Outer space in amusement parks

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