A scale model of the solar system, which will be formally dedicated on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., Oct. 17, has roots at the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ at Boulder.
CU-Boulder's own scale model of the solar system was designed by a group of students and faculty in the 1980s led by Jeffrey Bennett, then an instructor in CU-Boulder's department of astrophysical and planetary sciences and Honors Program; and Tom Ayres, a researcher at CU's Center for Astrophysics and Space Astronomy. The model stretches north from Fiske Planetarium to Colorado Avenue - a distance of several blocks.
The CU-Boulder project began when Bennett realized the need for a learning tool that would accurately convey a sense of the enormous scale of the universe. He offered the idea to his honors undergraduate astronomy students as a volunteer project.
Three undergraduates - Ken Center, Matt Carter and Ron Bass - joined Bennett and Ayres in creating the first incarnation of CU's solar system scale model on campus and dedicating it to the crew of the ill-fated Space Shuttle Challenger. CU alumnus Ellison Onizuka died in the Challenger explosion.
However, parts of the display succumbed to inclement weather and had to be redesigned. The model was refurbished in 1993, largely through the work of Ayres and then CU-Boulder student Jodi Shoemer, who now works for the Denver Museum of Nature and Science.
The National Mall exhibit, which Bennett assisted in developing, is a cooperative venture involving the Challenger Center for Space Science Education, the Smithsonian Institution, and NASA. Titled "Voyage: A Journey Through Our Solar System," it is a permanent outdoor representation of our celestial neighborhood at one 10-billionth scale - the same scale used in the Colorado model.
One thing that makes the exhibits special for Bennett, a father of two young children, is that it gives young and old visitors the sense that humans inhabit a very tiny place in the grand scheme of things. "You have this feeling that if everybody in the world understood we live on a very small and fragile planet, we might be kinder to one another," he said.
For more information, visit the official Voyage website at .