Former LPL student Zarah Brown defended her dissertation in November, but not before completing the Arizona Scale Model Solar System, a project she undertook as an Arizona NASA Space Grant Graduate Fellow and had imagined completing since childhood. Zarah led the installation of 11 plaques depicting various objects of the solar system true to scale. Designed to show the relative sizes and distances of solar system objects at a 1:5 billion scale, the outreach project aims to make space science accessible to people of all ages and backgrounds and to highlight UArizona's accomplishments exploring the solar system. Artwork for the plaques was designed by LPL alumnus James Keane.

Dedicated with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on September 8, the stations comprising the Arizona Scale Model Solar System are spaced out across two-thirds of a mile of campus between the Kuiper Space Sciences Building and the intersection of East University Boulevard and North Euclid Avenue.

A project website, accessible by QR codes at each stop, will provide information via screen readers for the visually impaired, as well as additional details as new scientific discoveries are made.

The project is the result of collaborative efforts made possible by the support of the NASA Space Grant program and an anonymous benefactor. 

Read more about Zarah and the Arizona Scale Model Solar System project.