The Somerset Space Walk is a sculpture trail model of the Solar System, located in Somerset, England. The model uses the towpath of the 22-kilometre (14-mile) 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, so that the diameter of the orbits is represented.
Aware of the inadequacies of printed pictures of the Solar System, the inventor Pip Youngman designed the Space Walk as a way of challenging people's perceptions of space and experiencing the vastness of the Solar System.[1] The model is built to a scale of 1:530,000,000,[2] 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 11 kilometres (6.8 mi).[1] For less hardy walkers, the inner planets are within 430 metres (1,410 ft) 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.[3]
The Space Walk was opened on 9 August 1997 by British astronomer Heather Couper.[3] In 2007, a project team from Somerset County Council refurbished some of the models.
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Transcription
>> This is Mission Control Houston. One of the things that Astronaut Karen Nyberg has been doing during her time onboard the Space station, in addition to all the different incredibly busy science activities she's been working on, is she took up some sewing supplies. She's always been a lifelong lover of the arts and the crafts. And one of the goals that she had was to make a piece of a quilt was she has been up onboard the Space station. That piece will be bought back to Earth, and what she's doing is inviting people around the world to make pieces of this quilt to join hers. The International Quilt Festival actually began this week here in Houston. And at next year's activities, that is when some of her materials and this quilt will be on display. But is Karen Nyberg onboard the Space station, talking about her process and some of her supplies, as she takes part of this quilting activity up onboard the Space station. >> Now that I've tried my hand at sewing in Space, I can say one thing with certainty. It's tricky. First of all, it's keeping all of your things in order. Ziploc bags come in very handy. I have to keep all of my extra fabric and thread and scissors and all of the supplies that I'm using in a bag when I'm not using it, so they don't just float away. So the bags come in extremely handy. When I'm actually doing the sewing and you want to have things readily available, I have this sheet of pile Velcro, and I can clip it to Velcro on the wall. And I can keep a pair of scissors, Velcro, my magnetic case with my needles. My spool of thread, and then also, a straightedge, which brings me to the next point that makes sewing in Space very tricky, is cutting the pieces out straight. Getting the correct seam allowance. You know, you can't lay things down and measure and cut. The fabric doesn't. I find myself taping the fabric to a surface, trying to lay it out. I measured a three-by-three square on a piece of a cardboard. And I would actually trace this onto my fabric, and cut what seemed like it was probably a quarter-inch seam allowance around that. And then of course, when I start piecing the pieces together, it becomes very tricky [laughter] when the pieces do not have the quarter-inch seam allowance that you really had hoped for. It's less than perfect. I think I would have chosen a fabric that doesn't fray. Perhaps maybe a felt or something like that. Now, in hindsight, I wish I had bought something like that to sew with, where you could cut. The seam allowances don't matter. You just cut the design you want and then maybe do some topstitching on it to make something. So my experiment here of sewing and hand sewing. And I don't hand sew all that much. On Earth, I usually use a sewing machine. And so, there's also that patience of hand sewing, and I respect those [laughter] who do that, who do that a lot. But in keeping the things together, that in itself can make this a little more challenging. And then of course, like I said, cutting the pieces out. Getting the edges straight. And then keeping it together. I don't have pins with me here. And so, I've tried a few different things. I've tried using some tape and taping the edges. I have five needles, and I can use those as pins, the ones I'm not using, and try and keep the pieces together. But also, that can be tricky. And it's taking me a long time. I'm almost done with one single nine-by-nine quilt block that has taken me quite a while. Longer than you would expect it to take. But it's been fun. It's been a fun experiment. And it'll be neat to have a quilt block that I can say was actually sewn during my time in Space. This is what I've made. It's far from being a masterpiece. I've discovered several challenges with cutting and piecing and stitching in weightlessness. But it was made in Space. I'll be bringing this block back with me when I return to Earth. And I'm inviting all of you to create your own star-themed quilt blocks. We'll be combining them with my block to create a quilt for next year's 40th anniversary International Quilt Festival in Houston, where I hope to make a special appearance. If you're interested in participating in this fun project, all of the important details are available at this year's festival. I can't wait to see what we make together.
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.[3] 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"[4] – 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. Youngman came up with the idea for the Space Walk, and Hill 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.[4]
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.
Individual models
The model of the Sun is a 2.5 metres (8.2 ft)-wide 14-ton concrete sphere,[4] with a vertical segment removed to give two vertical faces upon which explanatory plates are mounted. The solid sphere was cast by Pip Youngman and Trevor Hill in the grounds of what was the SWEB storage yard adjacent to the Obridge Viaduct in Taunton. Originally 'natural' in colour (matching the other models) it was painted yellow as part of the refurbishment, making it much more visible.
Each of the smallest planet models is contained within a round-topped concrete plinth about 1 metre (3.3 ft) high. The stainless steel model is held inside a circular hole through the side of the plinth; hence the model of the planet may be viewed by looking through the hole. The plinths were created by Youngman using fibreglass moulds which he had also made.
The models of the largest gas giants, Saturn and Jupiter, are moulded as part of the top face of the concrete pillars. Originally concrete-coloured, they have been painted as part of the refurbishment.
Each pillar doubles-up as a milepost: the distance to Bridgwater and Taunton is cast in the concrete at ground level – below a depiction of the British Waterways 'bridge' logo – although the sculptures are sited according to the spacings needed for the model, and not at kilometre increments for the convenience of boaters.
On each pillar is a plaque containing a short inscription describing the planet. The Earth inscription reads:
"Earth orbits far enough from the heat of the Sun for water to be liquid, near enough not to freeze, for air to be a gas and earth a solid. With gravity strong enough to hold our atmosphere, gentle enough to allow delicate life forms. Rotating to give our day and night, tilted to give the four seasons. Enormous to us, tiny on the cosmic scale. Our home, unique, beautiful, fragile." – Pip Youngman[5]
Nearest star
The installation does not include a model of the nearest star for comparison, as this would be impossible. On the same scale as the other models, the nearest star (Proxima Centauri, which is about one-seventh the size of the Sun) would need to be a red ball 37.5 centimetres (14.8 in) in diameter[6] sited 76,000 km (47,000 mi)[7] away (roughly twice the circumference of Earth).
Pip Youngman
The Space Walk's designer, Philip Robert Vassar Youngman (born: 26 August 1924, Hunstanton, Norfolk – died: 23 May 2007, Taunton, Somerset), known as 'Pip', was a designer and inventor of mechanical apparatus. Around 1969, Youngman was approached by the Open University to adapt a mechanical calculator he had designed, originally prototyped in Lego, into a product suitable for school use. The result was the "Ball Operated Binary Calculator And Tutor" (BOBCAT),[8] a mechanical model for teaching binary arithmetic and the inner workings of the computer, using ball bearings for binary data bits and plastic levers for the calculating logic.
Location
The trail can be walked either from Taunton's Brewhouse Theatre to Maunsel Lock (Pluto to the Sun) or from Bridgwater's Morrison's Supermarket to Maunsel Lock (also Pluto to the Sun) or of course, vice versa.
The locations of the end and middle point (with postcodes and coordinates) are:
- Pluto in Taunton – TA1 1JL 51°01′06″N 3°06′09″W / 51.01826°N 3.10261°W
- Maunsel Canal Centre – TA7 0DH 51°03′45″N 2°59′20″W / 51.0626°N 2.98888°W
- Pluto in Bridgwater – TA6 3RF 51°07′31″N 3°00′29″W / 51.12529°N 3.00794°W
Model gallery
The models of the Solar System, in order:
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The Sun
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Mercury
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Venus
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Earth (and Moon)
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Mars
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Jupiter
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Saturn
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Uranus
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Neptune
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Pluto
See also
References
- ^ a b "Services Directory – Canal Walks". Somerset County Council. Retrieved 20 September 2010.
- ^ From the inscription on the Pluto model (photo of Pluto sculpture at Taunton end)
- ^ a b c Youngman, Pip. "Somerset Space Walk leaflet" (PDF). Taunton Solar Model Group. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 July 2011. Retrieved 20 September 2010.
- ^ a b c "Space Walk launched". Somerset County Gazette. 15 August 1997.
- ^ Caption may be read on photograph of model.
- ^ [Calculated as one-seventh the size of the Sun: 2.63 ÷ 7 = 0.375]
- ^ [Calculated as 270,000 x distance from Earth to Sun (270,000 x 1.496x10^8 km) ÷ 530,000,000 = 76,000 km
(where 1:530,000,000 is the scale of the model)] - ^ "BOBCAT". Allard's Computer Museum, Groningen. Archived from the original on 28 February 2009. Retrieved 6 March 2009.
External links
- "Somerset Space Walk leaflet" (PDF). (797 KB) – with map of canal showing approximate locations of models
- Maunsel Lock Canal Centre
- Somerset Space Walk at HiddenSomerset.com – includes travel directions + pictures of Sun and Earth models
- Photos of first seven models + the Sun – before refurbishing
- Pip Youngman's projects
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This page was last edited on 22 September 2022, at 16:20