Battlestar Galactica (roller coaster)

Battlestar Galactica: Human vs. Cylon is a pair of steel, dueling roller coasters at Universal Studios Singapore. One of the coasters is an inverted roller coaster track in blue, and the other half is a traditional seated roller coaster in red. It is the tallest dueling coaster in the world at 42.5 m. The roller coaster trains are launched from their stations at high speed instead of the traditional chain lift. Linear Synchronous Motors (LSM) are used for high-acceleration speed during launching. Similar to the Dragon Challenge at Universal's Islands of Adventure, these coasters feature several near collisions mere inches apart. Part of the ride takes place over the park's central lagoon. The coasters are the first Vekoma coasters after the Flying Dutchman to feature four-abreast seating, similar to coasters by Bolliger & Mabillard and Premier Rides.

History

 * 18 March 2010 – Battlestar Galactica: Human vs. Cylon is one of 16 attractions that opened during Universal Studios Singapore's soft opening.
 * 25 March 2010 – The ride was closed due to a technical problem in one of the trains, barely a week after it opened. Both rides remained closed for about 11 months thereafter.
 * 20 August 2010 – It was announced that the closure was due to cracks found in the welded joints of the seat-post supports of the "Human" coaster car.
 * 21 December 2010 – Battlestar Galactica: Human vs. Cylon entered the final testing stage with newly reinforced cars for both the "Human" and "Cylon" coasters. The ride was scheduled to re-open in the first half of 2011.
 * 4 February 2011 – The ride was opened unofficially for "technical rehearsals".
 * 21 February 2011 – The scheduled official re-opening of the ride.
 * 21 July 2013 – The ride was closed again for review.

Battlestar Galactica: Cylon
Battlestar Galactica: Cylon is a suspended roller coaster and travels on an inverted blue track.

The Cylon coaster is a coaster designed like the Cylon Raider suspended from the track with legs free that performs intense maneuvers including several inversions in the form of a zero-g roll, a Cobra roll, corkscrews and vertical loops. The Cylon coaster also plunges into a 5 m deep pit filled with artificial fog to give thrill seekers the sensation of a near miss with the ground. It also includes sudden turns close to buildings emphasizing the sensation of a near miss.

Battlestar Galactica: Human
Battlestar Galactica: Human features a seated roller coaster and travels on the red track.

The Human coaster is designed for riders who want a roller coaster experience without inversions. The trains use lap restraints giving the rider total upper body movement. According to Universal Studios Singapore engineers, riders on the Human track experience more G-forces than those on the Cylon track. At certain point of the ride, the coaster reaches speed of up to 90 km/h.

Problems
Just a week after its soft opening on 18 March 2010, Universal Studios Singapore identified a problem in a ride vehicle during routine testing. The ride closed for repair on 25 March 2010. In August 2010, Resorts World Sentosa publicly addressed the reason for closure of the ride, stating that the problem lies with the design of the ride vehicles and not the track layout. Higher than anticipated stress and vibration levels caused fatigue cracks to develop in a welded component on the ride's seat-post supports. The redesigned component will eliminate the weld entirely and will also be installed with additional strength-reinforcement parts. Extensive ride testing cycles and inspections have been conducted since September 2010. The ride will need to be re-certified before it reopens to the public. In early February 2011, Universal Studios Singapore announced the rides would re-open on 21 February 2011, although it was opened unofficially for "technical rehearsals" on 4 February 2011.