[Arizona-students] Touch the Sun Press Release

[David Andrews]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MEDIA CONTACTS:

Patricia Maurer

Director of Community Relations

National Federation of the Blind

communityrelations at nfb.org

410-659-9314, ext. 2272

Skip Barker

Chairman

VIEW International Foundation

sbarker at viewinternational.org

401-742-8347

Book launch and activities help visually impaired students Touch the Sun

BALTIMORE, MD (11/29/05) --- On December 2, 2005, the National 
Federation of the Blind (NFB) will host the launch of an exciting new 
tactile astronomy book
by author Noreen Grice.  Touch the Sun, published by the Joseph Henry 
Press with support from VIEW International Foundation and the 
National Aeronautics
and Space Administration (NASA), allows blind and visually impaired 
students to experience satellite images of the Sun and solar activity 
by feeling transparent
raised textures bonded to the pictures.

Touch the Sun features arresting images from the Solar and 
Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) and the Transition Region and Coronal 
Explorer (TRACE) spacecraft,
as well as a close-up of a sunspot from the National Solar 
Observatory at Sacramento Peak in the Lincoln National Forest, New Mexico.

"Our goal is to shatter the myth that blind youth cannot participate 
in scientific endeavors and empower them to imagine a future full of 
opportunities
by partnering with organizations like VIEW International to provide 
educational products such as Touch the Sun," said NFB President Dr. 
Marc Maurer.

For author Noreen Grice, the current book follows two previous books 
featuring textured celestial images for the visually impaired: Touch 
the Universe and
Touch the Stars. "Our bright yellow star appears unchanging but in 
fact is an active, violent place that directly affects our home 
planet," Grice said.
  She continues, "Touch the Sun is a universally designed book for 
readers of all visual abilities. You can explore the Sun with 
embossed color pictures
of swirling gas currents, dark sunspots, curving magnetic fields, and 
explosive eruptions."

VIEW International Foundation put the book together after producing 
the tactile images. "Touch the Sun is VIEW's first project, and we 
plan to publish many
more titles with tactile illustrations in the areas of science, 
technology, engineering, mathematics, history, and art," said VIEW's 
executive Director
Robert Jaquiss.

Touch the Sun was funded by NASA, the Lockheed Martin Corporation's 
Advanced Technology Center in Palo Alto, California, and the Stanford 
Solar Center,
Stanford University, Stanford, California.  Approximately 2,500 
copies of Touch the Sun are being produced.  While 500 copies of the 
book will be available
for purchase from the Joseph Henry Press, VIEW International 
Foundation, in collaboration with the NFB's National Center for Blind 
Youth in Science, will
distribute the remaining copies free of charge to blind youth across 
the country.

The release of Touch the Sun will be held at the NFB Jernigan 
Institute at 1800 Johnson Street in Baltimore, Maryland.  Blind youth 
attending the December
2nd event will receive a free copy of the book as well as have the 
opportunity to experience the book through interactive activities led 
by Noreen Grice
and blind mentors.  The event is scheduled to begin at 10:00 a.m. 
with the interactive Sun education activities followed at 11:00 a.m. 
by brief remarks
and a special performance by The Chromatics.  At 11:45 a.m. the star 
of the event, Touch the Sun, will be distributed, and participants 
will enjoy a celebration
lunch.

About the National Federation of the Blind

With more than 50,000 members, the National Federation of the Blind 
is considered the largest and most influential membership 
organization of blind people
in the United States. The NFB improves blind people's lives through 
advocacy, education, research, technology, and programs encouraging 
independence and
self-confidence. It is the leading force in the blindness field today 
and the voice of the nation's blind. In January 2004, the NFB opened 
the National
Federation of the Blind Jernigan Institute, the first research and 
training center in the United States for the blind led by the 
blind.  A primary initiative
of the Jernigan Institute is the National Center for Blind Youth in 
Science, which will dramatically change opportunities in the sciences 
for the blind.

About VIEW International Foundation

View International is a newly formed charitable organization with the 
mission of creating environments in which blind and sighted children 
and adults work
and learn together.  The first step in this lofty goal is developing 
technologies that allow for universal access to science and the 
humanities.  Touch
the Sun is the successful culmination of that first step.  As a 
second step, VIEW intends to create a curriculum of 100 tactile graphic books.

#######

-2-