WASHINGTON (AP) _ Picture the sun as the size of a grapefruit. That would make tiny Pluto smaller than a poppy seed in the Smithsonian Institution's new scale model of the solar system.
By the same scale, the nearest star would be the size of a cherry _ located across the country in California.
Stretching more than six football fields across, the Smithsonian's new model doesn't fit in any museum. So, ``Voyage: A Journey Through the Solar System,'' will be displayed outdoors, stretching 650 yards along the museums lining the National Mall.
The exhibit _ built at one ten-billionth of the solar system's full size _ takes the learning experience beyond the walls of the museum, said Carolynne Harris Knox, the Smithsonian's coordinator for the project.
The sun is located beyond the east end of the National Air and Space Museum. Earth will be affixed nearby, just off the building's east corner.
Past the full length of that massive museum, past the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, past the Arts and Industries building, near the corner of the Smithsonian Castle, is Pluto.
Workers are currently installing the planets and the display is scheduled to open to the public Oct. 17.
``Millions of visitors to the Smithsonian will have the opportunity to learn about our solar system through this dynamic experience,'' said Dennis J. O'Connor, Smithsonian undersecretary for science.
Jeffrey D. Rosendhal, director of education and outreach in NASA's Office of Space Science, said, ``Through this exhibition, NASA hopes to share what has been discovered, and the strangeness, wonder and beauty of these newly revealed worlds with the public.''
The exhibit is a series of tall stainless steel towers, each displaying a part of the solar system along with a porcelain plaque with information about that planet.
The name of the planet is in raised letters on each plaque and next to it is a ``bump'' allowing the visitor to feel the size of the planet at the scale. Jupiter, the size of a toy marble, is easily seen and felt. Mercury can barely be noted by the fingertip.
Each plaque directs the reader to displays on each side, giving distances to other things. The asteroid belt, for example, notes that Jupiter is 55 steps to the left and Mars is 28 steps to the right.
The empty space between the towers is part of the story too, explained Harris Knox. It gives the visitor a sense of the distance between planets.
And, she added, the outdoor location gives people something to look at while walking from museum to museum or waiting for the museums to open.
Nine of the towers support three-dimensional model planets and moons laser-sculpted in crystal.
The remaining stations feature the sun _ a copper ball with a mottled surface to give a realistic appearance _ and the belt of asteroids and comets, too small to be modeled. There is also a plaque at each end introducing the visitor to the display.
The permanent exhibition was developed by the Smithsonian, working with the Challenger Center for Space Science Education and NASA.
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