The Saturn V model. All images: NASA
Yesterday, NASA released a bunch of fun space-themed designs that can be downloaded to standard 3D printers. So if you've been looking for that perfect model of the Rosetta spacecraft, the Gale Crater on Mars, or Hurricane Julio, rest assured: NASA's got you covered.The collection is open to any space enthusiast with a 3D printer, but it's also a new initiative of the Hubble Space Telescope's outreach program. "Our project, which is called 3D Astronomy, is based on specifically Hubble Space Telescope data," said Carol Christian, Hubble project outreach scientist, in a YouTube discussion."We have a very large educational outreach program, but here are some groups of people that we can't reach easily," she continued. "So we've been thinking about and starting to work on a suite of products for the visually impaired, that also are beneficial for people who learn in different ways. That's basically the idea: to use 3D printing to create tactile models that people can use their fingers to explore the imagery, rather than using their eyes."The full gallery is worth browsing through, but here are some of the highlights. Yes, there will be a grease gun.
The Rosetta spacecraft, sans comet.
The asteroid Vesta, halved.
The aforementioned grease gun.
The Voyager probe.
Topographical map of Valles Marineris.
The Kennedy Space Center's Vehicle Assembly Building, complete with water tower.
The Ben Franklin research submarine.
Hurricane Julio.
The Laser Interferometer Space Antenna.
The James Webb Space Telescope.
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