FALLS CHURCH, Va., April 26, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Northrop Grumman Foundation, as a sponsor of the USA Science & Engineering Festival in Washington, D.C., will feature the engineering and science behind NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, built by Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC). The Festival will be held at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center on April 28 and 29.
In addition to providing education activities about the Webb telescope, Northrop Grumman will feature tabletop robotics, a virtual jet pilot game, and a computer visualization that tracks hand movements allowing participants to move a virtual globe using gestures.
The Foundation supports diverse and sustainable national-level programs that enhance the education experience for students and provide teachers with the training and tools they need to be successful in the classroom. These activities are critical to inspiring and teaching future generations of America's engineers and scientists.
Successor to the Hubble Space Telescope, the James Webb Space Telescope is the world's next-generation space observatory. It will be the most powerful space telescope ever built. Webb will observe the most distant objects in the universe, provide images of the very first galaxies ever formed and study planets around distant stars. The Webb Telescope is a joint project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency.
The USA Science & Engineering Festival, the nation's largest celebration of science and engineering, is a free, family-friendly event that allows children and adults to participate in over 2,000 hands-on activities and see more than 200 live performances by science celebrities, explorers, best-selling authors, entrepreneurs and world-renowned experts.
The country's only national science festival, it was developed to increase public awareness of the importance of science and to encourage youth to pursue careers in science and engineering by celebrating science. The USA Science & Engineering Festival is a grassroots collaboration of over 500 of the United States leading science and engineering organizations. For more information on the Festival, please visit www.usasciencefestival.org
The Northrop Grumman Foundation supports diverse and sustainable programs for students and teachers. These programs create innovative education experiences in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. For more information please visit www.northropgrumman.com/foundation.