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The Somerset Space Walk is a sculpture trail model of the solar system, located in Somerset, England. The model uses the towpath of the Bridgwater and Taunton Canal to display a model of the Sun and its planets in their proportionally correct sizes and distances apart. Unusually for a solar system model, there are two sets of planets. Aware of the inadequacies of printed pictures of the Solar System, the Space Walk was designed by inventor Pip Youngman as a way of challenging our perceptions of space and experiencing the vastness of our own Solar System. The model is built to a scale of 1:530,000,000,〔From the inscription on the Pluto model ((photo of Pluto sculpture at Taunton end ))〕 meaning that one millimetre on the model equates to 530 kilometres. The Sun is sited at Higher Maunsel Lock, and one set of planets is installed in each direction along the canal towards Taunton and Bridgwater; the distance between the Sun and each model of Pluto being .〔 Fortunately for less hardy walkers, the inner planets are within of the Sun, and near to the Maunsel Canal Centre (and tea shop) at Lower Maunsel Lock, where a more detailed leaflet about the model is available.〔 The Space Walk was opened on 9 August 1997 by British astronomer Heather Couper. In 2007, a project team from Somerset County Council refurbished some of the models. ==Background== The Walk is a joint venture between the Taunton Solar Model Group and British Waterways, with support from Somerset County Council, Taunton Deane Borough Council and the Somerset Waterways Development Trust.〔 The Taunton Solar Model Group comprised Pip Youngman, Trevor Hill – a local physics teacher who had been awarded the title of "Institute of Physics (IOP) Physics Teacher of the Year"〔 – and David Applegate who, during his time as Mayor of Taunton, had expressed a wish to see some kind of science initiative in the area. Pip came up with the idea for the Space Walk, and Trevor assisted by calculating the respective positions and sizes of the planets. Funding for the project came from the Committee on the Public Understanding of Science (COPUS), the initial advertising leaflet was paid for by the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council (PPARC) and there was also a small grant from Sustrans, who fund art installations along cyclepaths, to deal with maintenance requirements in the years before Somerset County Council took on that responsibility. In order to apply for the COPUS funding Youngman needed two 'sponsors', so he wrote to Arthur C. Clarke (a local boy himself, then living in Sri Lanka) and Patrick Moore, who both wrote warm letters in support. Arthur C Clarke's brother Fred read out his letter at the opening ceremony. ReadyMix Concrete supplied the concrete for the plinths, and Avimo (now part of Thales Group), a local defence contractor, supplied the steel for the models. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Somerset Space Walk」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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