Many more towns and institutions will have their own solar systems within the next few years. One of King’s main goals was to make his model accurate not just in absolute, as-the-crow-flies distance between the planets, but in how long it takes to walk from one to another-many other models are built along meandering paths that increase traveling times. He approached the Cumberland Town Council, who were enthusiastic about the idea of creating an installation. While tutoring fifth graders, King was disappointed in the resources available for teaching about the solar system. Parker King, the concept designer for the Cumberland model, says the Eugene solar system was his inspiration for the project. A new set of informational displays is now in the works. When they saw passersby stopping to study the marks, they decided to build a permanent model with steel planets fixed atop steel pyramids. Jack Van Dusen created the initial model-represented by marks painted on the bike path-as a way to show his fourth-grade son just how small and far apart the planets were.
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Strung out along a bike path in Eugene, Oregon is another 1:1 billion-scale model like the one planned for Cumberland. Not all the installations begin as public works projects. Even in Sweden, Earth is only about 26 inches across. The size of these installations shows just how big the solar system is if they were much smaller than the Cumberland model, we wouldn’t be able to see Earth with the naked eye. An even larger project is currently seeking funding in Scotland. The largest model in the world so far is in Sweden, where planets are represented by sculptures located in different cities. Solar system models have sprouted up in Europe, too, from York, England to Zurich. The Lakeview Museum Community Solar System in Peoria, Illinois is one of the largest in the U.S., stretching for nearly 40 miles. Of the models already installed in the United States, most are located in downtown areas or along public paths like the one in Cumberland. Another node lists the spacecraft that have traveled to the outer reaches of the solar system. Each planet will be represented by a station or “node” with a to-scale model of the planet itself, along with images of its surface and informative text.
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The solar system model is expected to boost traffic along the trail while giving Cumberland a reputation for thinking big.Īt the scale of the Cumberland model, Earth will be about 492 feet from the Sun and about half an inch in diameter. Due for completion by the end of this year, the project is part of a plan to create a path for walking and biking within a larger network of trails crisscrossing the counties outside Indianapolis. Cumberland’s model, representing the Sun and planets at a 1:1 billion scale, will span nearly three miles along the southern edge of the downtown area. The citizens of Cumberland, Indiana are about to join more than 20 communities around the United States that sport a scale model of the solar system in their back yards ( see our interactive map). But Mars-or Pluto, for that matter-are closer than you think if you’re willing to scale back, literally, your expectations. Even if someday a crew of astronauts makes the 50-million-mile journey to Mars, that won’t do much for the rest of us. There aren’t many ways to get a firsthand appreciation for the vastness of space.