A 10-meter model of Mars, named “Marsmeloun” will be exhibited in mid-July on Kraví Hora, accompanied by a cosmonautical exhibition and a range of sci-fi movies showing at the summer cinema. Photo Credit: Hvězdárna A Planetárium Brno.
Brno, June 30 (BD) – In mid-July, a detailed 10-meter model of Mars, named “Marsmeloun”, will be displayed on Kraví Hora, accompanied by a cosmonautical exhibition with a wide range of activities suitable for both children and adults.
Marsmeloun will be exhibited in the park outside the Brno Observatory on Kraví Hora from July 12th to 18th, and can be visited daily from 2pm until 12am. The exhibition is a continuation of a previous project in which the observatory displayed models of Earth and the Moon. However, the design and creation of Mars were much more challenging than the previous models.
Photo: Previously displayed models of the Earth and the Moon, known as “Terralona and Lunalon”. Credit: Pavel Gabzdyl / Hvězdárna A Planetárium Brno.
“Creating a model of Mars is more complicated than it may seem. The work took several months. The texture creation itself took three weeks in graphics programs. It was preceded by searching for documents from NASA and modifying them so that the outputs could be used for printing,” explained Michal Okleštěk, one of the designers of the Mars model project.
According to Jiří Dušek, director of the Brno Observatory and Planetarium, the current model of Mars is the best the planetarium has ever had. To create such an accurate replica of the planet, the designers used 73,000 photographs of Mars taken by the orbital space probes Viking 1 and Viking 2 between 1975 and 1982, with a resolution of up to eight meters as a basis of their project. Thanks to such accuracy, the model itself showcases a number of exceptional details, including polar caps, volcanoes, valleys, and, of course, craters.
In addition to Marsmeloun, Lunalón (a model of the Moon) and Terralóna (a model of Earth) will join the exhibition from August 5th to 12th. Together with the replicas, a wide range of activities will be offered in the afternoon during the exhibition, and the summer cinema will be screening sci-fi movies every night in English with Czech subtitles. Admission to the planet exhibition and the summer cinema is free of charge; tickets are required only for the digital projections.
As the installation of the models can be influenced by weather conditions, it is important to check the Facebook page of the planetarium for current updates.
