Changes

Shortly following the opening of Mission: Space, Environmental Tectonics Corporation (ETC) sued Disney for roughly 15 million dollars. The lawsuit stemmed from the fact that Disney had awarded Environmental Tectonics a 30 million dollar contract to develop the centrifuges and hardware for Mission: Space in 1999. In their lawsuit, ETC claimed that (among other things) Disney had failed to pay the full amount of the contract, had shared details of the companies designs with competitors, prevented the company from working with other entertainment companies, and that they had not properly tested the attraction for safety. Disney countersued, claiming that ETC had failed to fulfill their contractual duties, and that they (Disney) had to spend an extra 20 million dollars in order to complete the ride. In January 2009, the companies settled out of court for an undisclosed amount of money.

After Mission: Space opened, two guests passed away after riding the attraction. On June 13, 2005, four year old Daudi Bamuwamye died after riding the attraction. Subsequently, On April 12, 2006 Hiltrud Blumel passed away one day after riding the attraction and becoming ill. Although both deaths were later ruled to have been the result of pre-existing conditions, the popularity of Mission: Space took a serious hit.