UA Planetary Science 3D Models

Associate Professor of Practice Dr. Steve Kortenkamp is co-investigator for the University of Arizona's Project POEM, a National Science Foundation-funded project designed to introduce visually impaired middle and high school students to career possibilities in science, technology, engineering and math. Dr. K provides Project POEM students with 3-D models of real spacecraft and documented craters discovered in Arizona and on the surface of the moon and Mars. Many of the models, which are designed to let students experience craters through touch, are based on data and images collected by the UA's Mars HiRISE camera. The models are cast by Dr. K in his lab at the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory. Watch Dr. K describe how the tactile models are made and how they can help visually impaired students to explore planetary topography.