So much of astronomy is based on sight — data visualizations, planetarium projectors, cool NASA photos. But, those ways of understanding the Universe aren’t accessible to everyone, particularly those with low or no vision. How can we open the skies to disabled enthusiasts and astronomers? And how can we open a new way for everyone to experience the universe with their other senses?

As part of my NSF grant's Broader Impacts work, I've focused on making tactile models, using real data, as a new way to explore the universe with our sense of touch. These models are often 3D printed, as this keeps things relatively low cost and easy to produce. Other projects (e.g. 3DAstro@STScI) have been working on this for years now as well. I also led a planetarium show as a grad student at UCLA that used existing resources from NASA to make the show accessible to blind and low vision audiences—you can read all about that experience here.

As new materials are developed, I'll post them here to make them freely accessible to anyone interested!

Pluto:
This tactile model is made using real data, specifically the Digital Elevation Map (DEM) from the NASA New Horizons mission. A clearer heart image is manually added on top of this to help Pluto's most iconic feature (Sputnik Planitia) be discerned by touch. As New Horizons was a flyby mission, the back side of Pluto is lower resolution than the Sputnik Planitia side, and no data is available at the South Pole. This provides an opportunity to use the model to teach about different types of missions, and what they can do for science! Note: this model has not yet been tested with blind/low vision audiences.
Pluto .stl file [Download / Google Drive]

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