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MAINE, WE HAVE A PROBLEM

Turns out the solar system is, um, smaller than expected. In fact, this perfect scale model was assembled across 64 kilometres of rural New England.

Text: CHANTAL TRANCHEMONTAGNE

1 | 2 | OCT '04

While the Spirit Rover is picking up particles on Mars, I too am observing the surface of the Red Planet. Only instead of being mired in the cloudy and dusty atmosphere of the real thing, I’m on the frigid and blustery Route 1 in northeastern Maine’s Aroostook County. I stand beside the "Welcome to Presque Isle" sign on the side of the highway, staring up at a seven-centimetre reddish ball on a pole, while cars fly obliviously by. The brochure I picked up earlier confirms that it’s Mars – a 1:93,000,000 scale model.

I’m trying to summon up the gravity of an astronaut on an interplanetary adventure, but I must admit that contact with the first three planets brought a pang of disappointment. Mercury was puny. Venus wasn’t much bigger. When I blinked, I missed Earth completely; in fact, I had to backtrack to look for it. Frustrated, I ask myself, "What kind of person would build the world’s largest scale model of the solar system?" Then I meet Kevin McCartney.

Within minutes of meeting the geology professor in his office at the University of Maine at Presque Isle, I’m convinced he’s a bit, well, off. Is it because of the scruffy moustache-less beard? The head-to-toe khaki attire, complete with ratty beige cap? Or the mobiles of plastic prehistoric critters flying over his head? No. It’s because he’s a man who became so obsessed five years ago with the idea of building a sprawling replica solar system that he convinced all the surrounding communities that they needed a 64-kilometre-long roadside attraction. "People who come in to buy a car walk away with an education," says Scott Norton, manager of Percy’s Auto Sales, which is home to Earth and its moon. (I didn’t actually get to see the moon; it had been removed for the winter to allow for the plowing of the parking lot.) "But when Kevin came by, my first thought was, ‘Which one of the planets does he really live on?’"

McCartney knows that he has that effect on people. "I’m a space cadet in more ways than one," he admits. "When I talk about an idea, people either move closer or run." And yet he still managed to round up over 600 people in the communities between Houlton and Presque Isle to help him build his project, which was completed in June 2003.

1 | 2 | OCT '04