Overview of project

The project ‘A Touch of Venus’ will develop 30 planetary science resource kits which include a 3D tactile model of planet Venus from NASA’s Magellan data and a book of peer-reviewed educational activities. We 3D print the initial model to get an accurate representation of the surface features. After that a silicone mould is produced that allows for the construction of about 30 copies in resin before it degrades. This is more cost efficient than 3D printing the 30 globes.

The kit will focus on two main audiences; people with normal vision and people who are visually impaired (BVI), a community otherwise neglected in many instances due to lack of resources in science. The target audience will be mainly children. A prototype of the globe will be developed, printed and field tested by the experts to achieve a high quality educational product, where a participant could touch the Venus surface for an immersive learning experience. A book of planetary science activities will be peer-reviewed by IAU’s astroEDU platform. After a call, the project coordinators will identify 30 hubs around the world with teachers and outreach professionals who will be trained online to carry out workshops locally with both visually impaired and normal vision kids. With the feedback from the 30 hubs, a final resource kit will be available online under the H2020 Programme guidelines on open access where the content will be published under CC-BY giving a wider accessibility.