I Go Walking After Midnight, Through the Solar System

Well, this seems pretty cool:

The citizens of Cumberland, Indiana are about to join more than 20 communities around the United States that sport a scale model of the solar system in their back yards (see our interactive map). Cumberland’s model, representing the Sun and planets at a 1:1 billion scale, will span nearly three miles along the southern edge of the downtown area. Due for completion by the end of this year, the project is part of a plan to create a path for walking and biking within a larger network of trails crisscrossing the counties outside Indianapolis. The solar system model is expected to boost traffic along the trail while giving Cumberland a reputation for thinking big.

At the scale of the Cumberland model, Earth will be about 492 feet from the Sun and about half an inch in diameter. Each planet will be represented by a station or “node” with a to-scale model of the planet itself, along with images of its surface and informative text. Another node lists the spacecraft that have traveled to the outer reaches of the solar system.

Looks like they're gonna be springing up more and more, making a leisurely stroll incredibly educational:

Many more towns and institutions will have their own solar systems within the next few years. The National Center for Earth and Space Science Education’s model program, called Voyage, is specifically designed to be adopted by other locales around the country. The original model spans 6.5 football fields between the Air and Space Museum and the Smithsonian Castle on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Copies of it can be purchased for $250,000, to be installed anywhere from state parks to college campuses. The copies even come with a package of supplemental resources, including training for educators and a public science program.