Construction
The globe was built with a scale of 1:1,000,000, on which one inch represents 16 miles (26 km), one millimeter represents one kilometer. As with most globes, it's mounted at a 23.5 degree angle, the same axial tilt as the Earth itself; thus the equator is diagonal to the floor. It uses a cantilever mount with two motors, and simulates one day's revolution and rotation every hour, though it is possible for the motors to fully rotate the globe in as little as one minute.
The globe was completed on July 23, 1998, and it uses a composite database built from satellite imagery, shaded relief, colored bathymetry, and information about road networks and urban areas. The database used to generate the surface images was approximately 140 gigabytes.
Eartha is contained in an atrium with several glass walls that allow it to be seen from outside of the building; it is readily visible from U.S. Route 1. At night, the globe is illuminated.
Eartha is constructed around a truss structure which is called Omni-Span, and consists of over 6000 pieces of aluminum tubing. This is covered by a skin of 792 map panels, each covering 8 degrees of latitude and 10 degrees of longitude, and attached to the trusses with a custom-designed system of hidden bolts.
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Famous quotes containing the word construction:
“When the leaders choose to make themselves bidders at an auction of popularity, their talents, in the construction of the state, will be of no service. They will become flatterers instead of legislators; the instruments, not the guides, of the people.”
—Edmund Burke (1729–1797)
“No construction stiff working overtime takes more stress and straining than we did just to stay high.”
—Gus Van Sant, U.S. screenwriter and director, and Dan Yost. Bob Hughes (Matt Dillon)
“Striving toward a goal puts a more pleasing construction on our advance toward death.”
—Mason Cooley (b. 1927)