Walt Disney World’s Space Mountain celebrates its 40th birthday this month (it opened on January 15, 1975 sponsored by RCA), making it the oldest operating roller coaster in Florida. The first “official” riders were Lucie Arnaz and Tommy Tune who hosted the grand opening festivities on a nationally broadcast TV special called “Welcome to the World” (because it was the first network TV special to take place at the Walt Disney World Resort).

Another note of interest is the fact that Mercury 9 and Gemini 5 astronaut Gordon Cooper served on the Space Mountain creative team as a consultant. He would later join five of the original seven Mercury astronauts — Scott Carpenter, Senator John Glenn, Wally Schirra, Alan Shepard, and Deke Slayton – at the opening of Space Mountain in Disneyland in 1977.