Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral, FL, USA - For hundreds of years, the world has strictly associated the modern roller coaster with a form of amusement. Now, the popular attraction is about to take on a completely new utilization at Cape Canaveral: a potential life-saver.

As NASA moves ahead with plans to launch the next generation of space flight, the agency has approved plans for a next generation of emergency escape systems, which happens to be a near-30-story roller coaster.

After weighing four options, NASA made the call on Friday to install an $8 million coaster system at the launch pad of its new Ares I vehicle, which NASA hopes will eventually launch its Orion craft to Mars. Despite a price tag above the other three possibilities, the agency determined that the coaster would prove a safer, more maintainable option than other considered escape systems: a slide tube, slide wire and high-speed elevator.

The coaster escape system’s initial design calls for a vertical path starting with an inclined loading area situated towards the top of the 300-foot launch tower. Once the first of three cars is loaded with up to six astronauts, it will depart with a quick vertical drop down the tower. From there, the track pulls out to enter a braking area leading to a safety bunker. The total ride time? 18 seconds.

Now, NASA has called for design propositions for the system, which will be contracted to an outside vendor.

The system should be in place before Ares I’s maiden flight in 2009 – one year before the current space shuttle program will be retired.