It’s 42 feet in diameter, it rotates and revolves just like the real Earth and it was created from one of the largest mapping databases in the world. Its name is Eartha(TM) and it is the world’s largest moving globe! DeLorme, a world renowned mapmaking company, is unveiling Eartha during a private party and press event this evening at 5:00pm.
Housed in a three-story glass atrium at the company’s headquarters here,
Eartha took two years to build and represents Earth as it is seen from space. Every aspect of Eartha was developed using computer. The mapping data, which took over a year to compile, is unique. It is a special composite database built from satellite imagery, shaded relief, colored bathymetry (ocean depth data) and information from terrestrial sources, such as road networks and urban areas. The printed Eartha database is equivalent to about 214 CD-ROMs, making it one of the largest in the world! Its scale is 1:1,000,000, which works out to be one inch equaling nearly 16 miles.
Eartha’s “skeleton” is the Omni-Span(TM) Truss structure — a DeLorme-
developed system of over 6,000 pieces of lightweight aluminum tubing. The
“skin” is constructed of over 792 map sections, printed on special materials and mounted on lightweight panels. Each panel spans 8 degrees latitude by 10 degrees longitude.
Eartha is being submitted for inclusion in the Guinness Book of World
Records. It exceeds the size of the globe currently listed as the
largest – the “Globe of Peace” in Apecchi, Italy, at 33 feet in diameter.
Founded by David DeLorme in 1976, DeLorme is a top map publisher,
specializing in providing cutting-edge mapping and navigation products to
consumers.
