Smithsonian Makes Push in 3D Imaging of Artifacts

(WASHINGTON) — With most of its 137 million objects kept behind the scenes or in a faraway museum, the Smithsonian Institution is launching a new 3D scanning and printing initiative to make more of its massive collection accessible to schools, researchers and the public worldwide.

A small team has begun creating 3D models of some key objects that represent the breadth of the collection at the world’s largest museum complex. Some of the first 3D scans include the Wright brothers’ first airplane, Amelia Earhart‘s flight suit, casts of President Abraham Lincoln‘s face during the Civil War and a Revolutionary War gunboat. Less familiar objects include a former slave’s horn, a missionary’s gun from the 1800s and a woolly mammoth fossil from the Ice Age. They are pieces of history some people may hear about but rarely see or touch....