All geeks love looking at pictures from the Hubble Space Telescope, but most of us probably couldn’t explain the differences and similarities between it and everyday, earth-bound telescopes.
This week, NASA posted a can’t miss game for all the young astronomers out there called “Scope It Out!” The game is designed to teach kids about the James Webb Space Telescope. The James Webb Space Telescope, or JWST, is under development to be the successor to Hubble and is due to launch in 2013. The game takes the player through the basics of both a refracting and reflecting telescopes of the type you would have in your own backyard. The game then introduces you to the JWST design and shows how it may look nothing like the telescope you have in your backyard but all of the same basic parts are there. Finally, the game compares JWST to Hubble and shows that while they don’t look similar to each other, they also have the same essential parts.
This is a wonderful resource to have out there and I am a big fan of anything that will teach kids about space and astronomy. It is also a great refresher for all us parents and answers a lot of questions adults will have about JWST and its unique design.
The game can be found on the JWST Website and be sure not to miss all of the other great content about the telescope that can be found on the site!
(Image copyrighted by NASA.)
(This post was written by new GeekDad writer Brian McLaughlin.)
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