Astronaut training school…
Astronaut training school…
| Theme Park | Futuroscope |
|---|---|
| Type | Rollercoaster |
| Audience | Older Families |
| Opened | 13 June 2020 |
| Manufacturer | Intamin |
| Model | Family Spinning Coaster |
| Length | 1640 ft |
| Inversions | 0 |
| Max Speed | 34 mph |
| Duration | 2¼ minutes |
Objectif Mars
Objectif Mars (Destination Mars in English) is the first, and currently only, full sized rollercoaster to be built at France’s amazing Futuroscope theme park.
The rollercoaster is a themed experience, designed to make riders feel as though they are being put through rigorous astronaut training ahead of a mission to the Red Planet.
Much of the story is set thanks to the ride’s immersive queueline, which navigates through several rooms and scenes to do with the forthcoming mission, culminating in a space station where everything appears to be upside-down thanks to the lack of gravity.
After boarding the rollercoaster itself, the trains navigate through a small but not particularly good indoor dark ride section before moving outside and into the first of two fairly muted tyre propelled launches. It is very much a family coaster, staying low to the ground and only ever achieving moderate speeds over a series of gentle hills and curves.
The finale comes as the train re-enters Objectif Mars’ ride building where the coaster engages with a vertical drop track, falling 5 metres downwards before moving back into the main station.
Originally the ride’s cars would spin, but following an incident involving a lithium battery fire in April 2023 this spinning was disabled. Although this was definitely the correct decision for safety reasons, it has somewhat reduced the ride experience: cars no longer face the scenes in the initial preshow, and there is much less excitement during the coaster section.
Amongst the many stunning attractions on offer at Futuroscope, Objectif Mars falls flat. The rollercoaster doesn’t deliver on the promise set up by the theming in the queueline, and is essentially a small and very short family coaster with a drop track at the end. Nevertheless, it still manages to attract a huge queue.
Ride entrance
The queueline features several zones
The space station
Green screen
Walking on Mars
Station queue pens
Boarding instructions
A train arrives
In the station
Checking restraints
Ready to go
Setting off into the dark ride section
Outside
Helix
Concrete block theming
The coaster interacts with the surrounding paths
The train's cars previously span freely
Over a hill
Three car trains
Back into the station
