NASA embosses space images for the blind

NASA today released Touch the Invisible Sky, a 60-page book using 28 embossed images from its Great Observatories, coupled with large-print and braille text to bring the "majestic images" to the visually-impaired and blind. The tome's pictures - from the Hubble Space Telescope, Chandra X-ray Observatory, Spitzer Space …

[John Bayly]

So, what do they look like?

Coat & bill please

[Anonymous Coward]

Our tax dollars at work...

Next up: Mozart for the Deaf; Swing Dancing for Paraplegics; Downhill Skiing for the Blind; and Curling for Alzheimer's patients.

[Tom Haczewski]

Erm

Isn't that just Braille? Lots of dots (i.e. stars) on a bit of paper.... Maybe they could hide messages in the stars!

Or maybe we'll see (pun) our first 'Touch-based-simulacrum'

"Pass me that picture of Venus again... wait a minute! This doesn't feel like Venus! It's the Virgin Mary!"

[Anonymous Coward]

Only an Anonymous Coward

could be so ignorant and ingrateful. What if we didn't develop special disablity-assist devices for Stephen Hawkins?

[Anonymous Coward]

I hope.....

That when embossed, the stars actually spell out some rather obscene message........ and if so if it will be classed as obscene literature for legal purposes?

[Steve]

Missed opportunity

What about the companion Audio CD "Listen to the Universe - Microwave background remix" ?

[Darragh]

ignerence must be bliss.

To those of you who say that this is a waste of money, I say one thing. Try spend your day blind folded just once. Try using your computer, your telivision, even your washing machine without being able to see!

Why shouldn't people who are Blind benefit from pictures like you can? sure, we cant see them. It doesn't mean that we are not interested in what things look like. This is a fantastic thing to see. Accessibility is coming of age. It is finally coming out of the era of making life accessible and going into making life enjoyable. If stupid people like you cant see that then it's you who blind people like me feel sorry for. I'm blind, I'm fine. I work, live and play like anyone else. but ignerence and stupid is much worse. There's absolutely no way of living an ordinary and productive life being so closed minded and clueless.

Nasa, fair play to you.

[Anonymous Coward]

re: Our tax dollars at work...

well better than that than waste it educating those unable to think – though since you can type they obviously did that as well

[Ishkandar]

I demand...

...one of Ripley in her full glory !!