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Ingenium Canada Aviation and Space Museum

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James Webb Space Telescope: Activities and Fun Facts

Hours and Location

Open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Thursday to Monday
Address
11 Aviation Parkway, Ottawa, ON
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Browse all Visitor Information for Canada Aviation and Space Museum
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James Webb Space Telescope: Activities and Fun Facts

Artist's rendition of the James Webb Space Telescope, with shields fully deployed in deep space.

The James Webb Space Telescope is the most complex and powerful space telescope ever built. The telescope boasts two new Canadian technologies designed to capture images invisible to any other existing telescope. Once launched from an Ariane 5 rocket — from Arianespace’s ELA-3 launch complex at the European Spaceport located near Kourou, French Guiana — the telescope will help broaden our understanding of the universe.

To celebrate and learn more about this new telescope, check out a range of hands-on activities below.

Paper model: James Webb Space Telescope

A small, paper model of the James Webb Space Telescope sits on a tabletop.

Colour and assemble your very own three-dimensional model of the telescope.

Download the instructions (PDF)

Colouring page: James Webb Space Telescope

What colours do you imagine seeing in space? Get creative with your pencil crayons or markers!

Download the colouring sheet (PDF)

Constellation Pinwheel

A hand is holding a pencil with a paper pinwheel with a galaxy design; balloons are visible in the background.

Decorate and assemble your own constellation pinwheel — then watch it spin in the wind.

Download the instructions (PDF)

Fun Facts about the Ariane 5 rocket and the James Webb Space Telescope

A long, white rocket with a booster on each side blasts off from Earth, creating a lot of fire and plumes of smoke.
The James Webb Telescope launched on an Ariane 5 rocket on December 25, 2021.
ESA/CNES/Arianespace Credit: arianespace.com

Here are some fun facts you may not know about the Ariane 5 rocket and the James Webb Space Telescope.

  1. It weighs 780 tons.
    The Ariane 5 is only about five stories high, but it packs a lot of weight. It has a mass of 780 tons, which is roughly the same as 390 adult male elephants!
     
  2. Its payload was a maximum of 10 metric tons
    The Ariane 5’s payload — which refers to the objects it’s carrying — was only about one per cent of the rocket’s total weight. For this December 2021 launch, the payload was the James Webb Space Telescope and a new satellite for the European Aviation Network.
     
  3. The James Webb Space Telescope was folded up to fit inside the nose of the Ariane 5 rocket.
    NASA’s largest and most complex space science telescope to date, the James Webb Space Telescope was too big for any rocket in its fully expanded form. The telescope was designed to fold in on itself, to achieve a much smaller configuration inside the tip of the Ariane 5 — which is 6.5 metres in diameter. Once in space, the telescope unfolded and stretched itself out in a period of two weeks. Watch a short short video of the folding telescope from NASA (English only).
     
  4. The sound of a rocket taking off could knock down a building.
    During the testing process, NASA engineers determined the acoustic energy from a rocket launch could actually knock down a building! Water jets on the launch pad are used to suppress the sound; the liquid dampens the sound wave of the launch by increasing the resistance on it, thus slowing down the sound wave.
     
  5. Canada has contributed two cool technologies to the James Webb Space Telescope.
    One of the reasons this launch is so exciting is because Canada is part of the mission. The James Webb Space Telescope includes two pieces of Canadian technology: the Near Infrared imager and Slitless Spectrograph (NIRISS) and the Fine Guidance Sensor (FGS). The NIRISS is both an imager and a spectrograph, so it can take pictures and study the spectra or the light of objects. The FGS is like the eyes of the telescope; it ensures that every single image or picture taken by the telescope is crisp and clear and sharp. 

Interested in learning more about what the James Webb Space Telescope will capture in its photographs? Visit the Canadian Space Agency’s What Webb Will Observe.

Ariane 5 Edible Holiday Rocket

Make your very own edible version of the Ariane 5 rocket, using a recipe and step-by-step instructions from award-winning pastry artist Catherine Beddall.

Learn more about the activity

Go further

Dr. Nathalie Ouellette is an astrophysicist and the Canadian Outreach Scientist for the James Webb Space Telescope, in collaboration with the Canadian Space Agency. Through three short videos, Dr. Ouellette shares some insights about the new telescope. Learn more and watch the videos in The James Webb Space Telescope: A powerful new space observatory. 

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About Canada Aviation and Space Museum

Canada Aviation and Space Museum
Located on a former military air base just five kilometers from the Prime Minister’s residence at 24 Sussex Drive in Ottawa, the Canada Aviation and Space Museum focuses on aviation in Canada within an international context – from its beginnings in 1909 to today.
Read more about the museum

Contact Us

Canada Aviation and Space Museum
11 Aviation Parkway
Ottawa ON K1K 2X5
Canada

613-991-3044
1-866-442-4416
contact@IngeniumCanada.org
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  • Plan Your Visit
    • Health and Safety
    • Hours
    • Admission
    • Location and Directions
    • Accessibility
    • Browse All Visitor Information
    • Buy Tickets
    • Online Resources for Science at Home
    • About the Museum
  • What's On at the Museum
    • Events
    • Exhibitions
    • Flights and Simulations
    • Spaces and Studios
  • Bookings and Rentals
    • School Programs
    • Summer Camps
    • Venue Rentals
    • Travelling Exhibitions
    • Virtual Field Trips
    • Group Visits
    • Birthday Parties
  • Educational Programs
    • School Programs
    • Virtual Field Trips
    • Program Location
      • At the Museum
      • At your School
      • Online
      • Browse all Educational Programs
    • Popular Links
      • 3D Educational Resources
      • Digital Learning Kits
      • Games and Apps
      • Online Resources for Science at Home
      • Try This Out
  • Collection and Research
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    • Research Projects
    • Collection Resources
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      • Collection Highlights
      • Conservation and Collection Services
    • Library and Archives
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    • Open Access
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  • Projects and Initiatives
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    • The Legacy Series
    • Let's Talk Energy