Fly By a Space Telescope

• By Maggie Masetti
• February 25, 2011
• 2 Comments

Ever wish you could virtually fly-by a space telescope, and then reach out and give it a good spin?

Well, now you can! There’s a brand new 3D interactive model of the James Webb Space Telescope that will allow you to move it around and explore all of its different parts!

Check it out here:
http://www.nasa.gov/externalflash/webb3d/

To quote the news release, “…this new interactive utilizes cutting-edge Flash and 3-D interactivity through an engine for Flash called Away 3D. Models of this complexity are rarely truly interactive, and this one comes at the start of a trend that will bring true 3D interactivity to the web via Flash.

“We wanted to make the 3-D Webb feature fun and inviting,” said Michael McClare, Senior Media Producer for the Webb Telescope project for Honeywell at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. He said that users do not need to download anything to make the interactive fly-by tour work.”

Here are a few screenshots:

Give this interactive toy a try – and let us know what you think!