NASA Invites Children and Families to Learn About The Universe Through The Eyes of NASA'S New Webb Space Telescope

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Mar 05, 2012, 05:19 ET

GREENBELT, Md., March 5, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center Visitor Center in Greenbelt, Md. will host this month's Sunday Experiment on Sunday, March 18 from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. EDT. It's a free afternoon for children of all ages and their families with a look at how NASA's most powerful space telescope will look at the universe and see further back in time than ever before.

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The James Webb Space Telescope will examine every phase of our history including the first galaxies to form after the Big Bang. Through a variety of hands-on activities, visitors will model the life cycle of a star, explore how the Webb telescope will "see" the universe in infrared light, and see how its hardware pieces will fit together.

Children will partake in hands-on activities, and will be able to see what they look like in an infrared camera, similar to the one that will fly on the Webb telescope. By creating special bookmarks with multi-colored beads, children will learn about the difference between stars in the universe.

"The Sunday Experiment is a great way for the general public to meet and interact with some of our scientists and engineers while learning about our latest projects," said Lynn Chandler, Communications Officer for the Webb Telescope at Goddard. "It is great fun for the entire family."

As always, the Visitor Center's Science on a Sphere theater will offer insight to Goddard's cutting edge science and research.

The Sunday Experiment, held on the third Sunday of each month, spotlights Goddard's world-renowned science and engineering research and technological developments. Families leave inspired by the activities, wowed by the scientists and engineers, and excited about Goddard's revolutionary research and technology. In addition to celebrating all things science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, the Sunday Experiment celebrates major science missions that are managed by NASA Goddard and set to launch in the near future.

For more information on the Sunday Experiment, visit Goddard's Visitor Center Web page:

http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/visitor/events/index.html

For more information and directions to the NASA Goddard Visitor's Center, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/visitor/home/faq.html

http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/visitor/directions/index.html

SOURCE NASA