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MAINE, WE HAVE A PROBLEM (p. 2 of 2)

1 | 2 | OCT '04

Between 2000 and 2003, town leaders, local businessmen, professionals, farmers, heavy machinery operators, students and families pitched in to weld, build and paint the planets. Each one was perfectly placed, spaced and tilted in relation to the sun (located at the university). Parking lots were constructed and gardens were planted to house some of the planets. Others were conveniently located at existing businesses. For example, Venus sits in the shadow of the Budget Traveler Motor Inn, while Neptune stands tall next to Rusty Rods Gift Shop. By McCartney’s estimate, building the system cost nearly $400,000. Every shred of material and labour was donated by generous locals. "The community really backed me up," says McCartney. "I’m not just a rogue geology professor anymore."

"You can’t say no to him," says Rod McCrum, who provided a piece of land for the Saturn site. I know what he means. When McCartney takes me to visit Jupiter, I can’t get a word in edgewise. "The base was built by the Job Corps, the post by the Technical College, the paint was done by…" While the logistics are not exactly big bang stuff, building and erecting a one-ton steel and fibreglass planet 1.32 metres in diameter is still impressive. And it’s downright contagious to watch McCartney lose himself in his out-of-this-world passion.

Many space tourists are coming along for the voyage. So far, according to the logbook stored in a plastic Tupperware container at the base of Saturn, people from 31 states, four provinces and one person from Islamabad, Pakistan, have travelled Kevin McCartney’s solar system. "I wasn’t as convinced as Kevin that it was going to be a tourist draw," says Jim Brown, the director of Economic and Community Development in Presque Isle. "But I’ve been proven wrong."

Apparently, though, McCartney’s quest hasn’t impassioned all the local folks just yet. When I ask around, I get answers like, "I guess it’s cool," and "It’s a neat idea," but many locals can’t pinpoint the scale solar system’s exact route or what the project is all about. When I ask a guy perusing the Bible section in B. Dalton’s bookstore about it, he gives me a flat, blank stare and walks away like I’m crazy.

His reaction takes me out of my heady space odyssey and hurtles me back to earth. The real one, that is. [ ]

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ON THE WEB: The Maine Solar System Model

1 | 2 | OCT '04